Those Redheaded Demons and Me: Fred Weasley Fanfiction
by Killer Queen of Slytherin
Summary: Most people know the version of Harry Potter where Harry is an only child. Forget all that. He had an older sister, Kalmine, and this is her story. When one spunky older sister and two redheaded Weasley twins mix, it makes for some very interesting years. (Fred.W, Kalmine.P) Rated T for later chapters!
1. Chapter 1

'Girl! GET DOWN HERE!' I grinned to myself as I knew why my staring at the wall of my room was being so rudely interrupted by Uncle Walrus, aka Uncle Vernon. I happily skipped down the stairs, passing Harry, my two years younger brother, who was cracking up in the hallway. 'What did you do to them?'

'You saw or you wouldn't be laughing!' I had indeed turned the entire family pink, like the pigs they were.

'Funny how they know it's you,' Harry said seriously.

'I've done this enough so they know who it is. What, they wouldn't think dear "Dudles" did it,' I snickered. 'Call the muggle police if I don't come back alive.'

'I will,' he answered dryly, knowing full well that I wasn't really joking. When I was ten and Harry was eight Uncle Vernon had broken my arm, and I had gone to the muggle hospital.

 _I was eating my bit of stew for supper quietly in my room with Harry next to me on a chair when Uncle Walrus nearly knocked down my door. 'YOU BLASTED BLOODY GIRL, YOU STOLE DUDLEY'S RADIO!_

 _'Did you, Kalmine?' Harry asked, looking desperatly to me. He was always trying to avoid trouble with our so called "family" and was obviously trying to clear this up. I was not the same, even then. I was a more of an uncontrollable person, with more if a stupid streak and a sort of feisty personnel. The only thing we shared were looks, I had the same dark chestnut waves that went to my elbow and green eyes inherited from my mother, Lily. The difference was I was a female and I was older._

 _'No, I didn't,' I calmly shoveled another forkful of food into my mouth, taking a very long time to chew and swalllow._

 _'HE SAYS YOU DID, STUPID GIRL!' Vernon was turning red and I was positive the neighbors could hear._

 _'I am not stupid!'_

 _'Kal, calm down,' Harry put a hand on my arm._

 _'He called me stupid, Harry! He's the stupid one, he can't tell that his son is a liar!'_

 _Vernon turned as red as Dudley's toy firetruck. 'HOW DARE YOU CALL DUDLEY A LIAR? HOW DARE YOU CALL ME STUPID, AFTER ALL I HAVE DONE FOR YOU UNGRATEFUL WENCHES OF CHILDREN! I HAVE GIVEN YOU SHELTER AND FOOD AND CARE!'_

 _'Listen here, girl. You are the stupid one who has a boys name. What respectable woman calls herself Kal?!' Vernon grabbed my arm and twisted it so it nearly snapped. I let out a squeak of protest and struggled to get free, but his meaty hands held fast._

 _'But we aren't adults, I am not a woman!' I breathed, hardly able to cope with the pain longer._

' _Now let go of her!' Harry shouted finally. He might have been less intense than I, but he was still brave and still hated seeing people hurt. My little brother had a good heart. Now was hardly the time to be proud and emotional over him, though, because my uncle shoved me away from him with my arm still twisted. A sickening crack echoed in my own ears as my arm snapped like a twig and the pain multiplied enormously._

 _The only thing they fought about was who was going to drive me to the hospital._

Two years later I got my letter. I learned I was to go to Hogwarts, that was what the unexplained events were. Why I could talk to snakes, why animals did what I wanted, why things around me would just fall to the ground or explode when I was angry.

The train had been magnificent. It was a red and black steam engine that said; Hogwarts Express on the side.

The train was were I had met my best friends.

 _A girl about my age was crying and stumbling around the tracks, confused. I heard the yelling from another compartment and understood they had said something offending, all I heard was "Mother" and "Mudblood scum" which didn't sound nice at all._

 _'AY!' I shouted down the hall at them. 'Leave her alone, you bloody cowards!'_

 _'Why don't cha make me?' A homely boy that was clearly older than me said. 'I'm Steven Goyle. Never insult a Goyle, girlie!'_

 _'Yeah, well, I'm Kal Potter, and I don't give a damn!' He noticeably did a double take._

 _'Potter? As in, Kalmine Potter, the one that survived Voldemort and played a part in saving your brother, the Boy Who Lived?'/_

 _I shrugged, 'That's what Hagrid told me in Diagon Alley!'_

 _'Mudblood lover Potter then? What a waste of a good name...'_

 _'What's a mudblood?' I asked snidely, hoping I didn't seem like a child asking this._

 _'An inferior person of low blood status, because their parents aren't wizards,' he rudely recited. I wondered what had happened to that poor brainwashed bloke._

 _'Care to test whether or not your blood is really better than hers? Because I could get some.' I sneered and he took a step towards me, threateningly. I tensed, I talked tough but I really didn't fancy getting in a fight with an older boy._

 _'Oi! Leave them alone Goyle, just get back in your bloody compartment!' A voice came from behind me. Someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me inside the compartment where the voice came from, with the crying girl who had stopped crying by now._

 _Inside where where three boys that were also first years, made obvious by their lack of house robes. I had read about the houses and heard about it from Hagrid._

 _'I'm Fred Weasley, this is my brother, George-' the ginger who had pulled me in and spoken up for us introduced._

 _'We're identical twins!' The boy who looked exactly like Fred said._

 _'She can see that, you git!'_

 _'I was just saying-' George defended but the third boy spoke up._

 _'I'm Lee Jordan,' Lee clarified. 'Like they said, they're Fred and George Weasley.'_

 _'We saw you talking to Steven-' began George._

 _'And we wanted to say-' Fred picked up._

 _'See you in Gryffindor.' They finished together, freaking me out._

 _I beamed, 'Really? You think so? Gryffindor was the house I wanted!'_

 _'You'll be in it,' Lee said confidently. 'So, what's your name?' He gestured slightly to the girl who had been called a mudblood earlier._

 _'Well, I trust you heard my name?' I looked at the both of them. They all nodded._

 _'I can't believe it, a real Potter!' George exclaimed happily._

 _'What, have people pretended to be me?' I asked mockingly. 'Why wouldn't I be real?'_

 _'You know what I mean,' he muttered with a slight smile. 'Let's see how your wording is when we give you-'_

 _'The Name Test.' Fred finished once again. It really was odd. 'You have to guess who's who.' They ran around until I lost sight of who was Fred and who was , they halted next to each other and looked at me expectantly._

 _How was I going to do this? I racked my brains, and a newspaper article I had once read popped into my head. It had said that people subconsciously react to their own names. So I held a finger up and said, 'George!' and sure enough, the boy on the right twitched. 'Aha!' I pointed at him. 'People automatically react to their names! Take that!'_

 _'That was bloody brilliant!' Lee laughed, 'My days of confusion are over!'_

 _'You have only known us about an hour!' Fred protested._

 _'Confusion that would have come,'_

 _'True, mate,' Fred answered back._

 _We had all been friends ever since._

'It's O.W.L year!' I groaned to the twins as we disembarked the Hogwarts Express together, brushing past stray first years and clumps of second years alike.

'Don't remind me!' George rubbed his head. 'Nobody told us we would have to actually pay attention to the stuff we learned in class!'/

'You'll need to borrow my notes,' I waved it off. 'I hated taking them, but it looks like it was actually a good thing after all!'

'What are you talking about?' Lee sidled up next to us.

'O.W.L.s,' we all chorused together.

'It freaks me out when you three do that,' he mumbled, 'I thought there were only two twins!'

'Yeah, well some of us don't need to worry,' Fred nudged my side, meaning he meant me. 'You have top marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures and even Muggle Studies!'

'So I can't be worried?' I demanded. 'All that comes easily to me, Fred! I don't try too hard, but during a test it could be different.'

'How is that natural?'

'In Defense I've encountered half of what they talk about, plus my parents were both talented in it, Potions because Snape likes me, Charms is just easy since I study them for fun sometimes, you know, because I was a muggle,' I ticked them off on my fingers and lowered my voice as I said it, not wanting to sound boastful. It was true, I had a pretty big natural advantage. 'You know how animals naturally like me, so I'm set for Care of Magical Creatures, and I live as a muggle every summer, plus before Hogwarts for eleven years of my life, so of course I'd be good at Muggle Studies!'

'Rubbish,' he flicked my hair playfully and I punched his hand away.

'Anyway, what about the other subjects? What about Divination and Herbology and Arithmancy and History of Magic and Transfiguration?'

'Who cares about those?' Fred asked carelessly. 'What do you plan on doing with your future anyway, that would make those important?'

'I don't really know,' I sighed, depressed. Fred and George already had big plans for a joke shop which they had shared with me, so many people in my year had their ambitions set straight as a needle. Then there was me. I didn't see myself in any job I had heard of in the wizarding world or the muggle one, they all seemed rather dull, and I detested the idea of staying with the same work for my entire life, like that of an Auror required.

'Figures,' he said with a smirk. 'C'mon, fancy getting some food in the kitchens?'

I took his arm and allowed Fred to lead me out of the room happily, trying to chase the excessive thoughts of my unstable future behind in exchange for carefree thoughts on tickling fruit and food alike.

A/N:

Hey all! As you can see, I edited this chapter a bit. There was a careless mistake in there about Sirius Black, who she hadn't known about at this point yet but it is fixed now!

Also, I'm updating AGAIN because of another mistake: it was all in weird code print! Why didn't anyone tell me, or was it just on all the devices I used? Bottom line is I spent an hour HAND deleting all of it.

Thanks, REVIEW!

Stay awesome,

Maria


	2. Chapter 2

My carefree start to the year was momentarily thrown off as Dumbledore approached us. 'Hello, Harry.' He said cheerily.

'Professor,' I greeted with equal disinterest and hopefully politeness.

'Ms. Potter, glad to see you've begun fifth year without any trouble!' He clapped his hands and turned to Harry, obviously dismissing me. It didn't stop me from hearing the last part of their hushed conversation as I left, though.

'Can I tell my sister?' Harry demanded, Dumbledore hesitated and looked my way. I snapped my head away from his gaze and pretended as if I hadn't been listening at all, as if it fooled the people around me.

'I would advise you didn't until further notice,' Dumbledore replied quietly. 'The less people know, the safer.'

'I know, though!' He protested weakly, causing me to wonder what had taken it out of Harry so badly. 'Why can't she?'

'He isn't after her.'

Who had they been talking about? Why couldn't I know? Was someone after my brother?

All these questions and more circled around my head, never reaching a logical answer. Why did my little brother always find himself in stupid and sticky situations?

Deciding to stop thinking so hard or my head would surely explode, I got up and went to find Fred of George. They were the kings of not thinking, after all. I found Fred in the common room, clutching a bag of sweets tightly.

'What're those?' I asked, trying to peer into the bag in vain. Fred moved away before realizing it was just me, relief evident on his face.

'Oh, Kal. Good, I thought it was ruddy McGonagall back to confiscate more!'

'More of those... what exactly?' I demanded. He grinned the grin I loved so much, the one that made him appear to be a young boy and not a fifteen year old ambitioned one. With all the Voldemort stuff going on, even the boys had become more serious and aware, and I hated it. It was almost as if we were growing up. Sigh.

'Remember those Tongue Toffees you helped us with last year?' I grinned fondly and nodded, liking where this was going. 'Well, we finished them,'

'Awesome!' I snatched one and inspected it carefully. 'Yes, this'll do.'

'Do?' He said incredulously, 'It is a work of pure art! It'll "do"!'

I slapped him on the arm, 'Were you going to the Spot?'

'Yeah,' he offered me his arm, which I took with ease and we began off to our spot.

Our spot was a beautiful spot by the black lake where the trees grew lush and the grass was green and colorful with flowers. It was also conveniently shielded from the casual observer, which was a godsent considering the things the boys had developed in that very spot. It was more for Fred and I, though, George had claimed the kitchen as his one and only true spot. Seriously, he had bloody marked it and I had helped him. I had also named the tickling pear Laurence, but that was beside the point.

'Kal!' I heard a voice calling to me, and I turned to face a familiar Gryffindor face. Kurt Lieng, a year above me and a friend of mine was waving to me. Without hesitation, I walked over and sat down next to him for lunch in the Great Hall, beckoning the twins over. Fred claimed my other side and George, with a friendly smile, sat next to him.

'Hey, Lieng!' I cheerfully said. 'What have you been up to?'

He sighed dismally. 'Nothing. Ever. I'm sure the three of you must have something going on, y'always do!'

'Funny you should say that, we actually have recently blown up-'

'None of your business.' Fred snapped suddenly. I quite literally dropped my fork and sheepishly bent down to get it, before George was kind enough to close my jaw. We were all sort of shocked. Fred was never rude to anyone but annoying Slytherin groupies, anyone on the Death Eater side (cough, Draco Malfoy, cough) and boring people. Even with the last one he was more mocking, it was almost as if the twins had something against being purposefully rude, but here Fred was. Being a prat. To my friend.

'Fred, honestly, he won't tell!' I rolled my eyes at him and cast a curious look to George, who was looking at Fred worriedly.

'Funny,' Kurt gave a breathy laugh, 'I thought she was allowed to talk to anyone she wanted to.' His tone was challenging, almost daring Fred to answer, and oh, I could tell he was hoping for a particular answer. Clearly something more was behind this and I was the one out if the loop. Because these two were some of the nicest people I had ever known! (Not exactly true, the Weasley twins could be bad, but they had good hearts.)

'She is!' Fred glared. 'Just...I don't trust you to keep the things we do a secret.'

'Okay, what is this about?' I nearly hollered, gaining unwanted attention from people around us at the table. 'Clearly I'm the only one who's not in on this, so someone please fill me in.' They all just gawked at me, and at each other, searching for something. 'Well?'

'This is a personal matter...' George blurted out quickly. 'Umm, house rivalry, right?'

I stared deadpan at him. 'George, we're all in Gryffindor.'

'I meant inter house rivalry...you know how us teenage boys get with our...territory. Yep, Kurt and Fred fight about the common room all the time.'

'George.' I said. 'Can you even hear yourself? "Us teenage boys and our territory" my arse. Someone fill me in!'

'Can't.' George smiled a bit.

'Please!'

'Uh uh,'

'Please?'

'No way.'

'Pretty Please with a cherry on top and a chocolate dipped cone? And sprinkles, naturally!'

He pretended to think before grinning and shaking his head. He was enjoying tormenting me way more than a best friend should, and I was so confused as to how these two were acting. Who had shoved a stick up their skirts?

'Y'know what?' I stood up and grabbed my things. 'I'm gonna eat in the common room. You girls can settle your beauty contest while I'm not around, please,'

'Are you still mad at me?' A sheepish Fred stood at the door, head ducked slightly like he tended to do when he was nervous or shy. He rarely ducked his head.

'Yes.'

'Okay.' He sighed and sat a good few feet away from me in the couch. There was an awkward silence for a few moments, before he suddenly said, 'I hate it when you're mad at me.'

'Why do you think I'm doing it? This isn't fun for me either.'

'What if I apologized, then would we be mates again?'

'Perhaps...' I smiled just the slightest bit and looked at him to see what he had in mind.

'I'm sorry, I was an idiot, a pig head, totally wrong even if Kurt is even more of a-'

'Fred-' I warned. I didn't want this ti end badly and that was were he had directed it by mentioning Kurt.

'Fine, but it's true, love.' He winked and got down on one knee, putting a hand on his heart. 'Sorry, sorry, sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry, sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry...'

'I get it!' A laugh escaped me at this display of idiocy. The exact kind of display only Fred could pull off. 'You are forgiven.'

'And I didn't even have to use my musical number!'

'I'd watch that!'

'Good try love,'

I crawled over to where he was now sitting on the couch and nestled myself into the crook of his arm, like a cat. 'What was that today?'

'Nothing,' he insisted. 'I was in a bad mood, that's all. And I don't like him.'

'Is it that time of month again?' Fred fixed me with an evil glare and I smirked impishly. 'Yeah, I'm beginning to gather that. It stinks, since Kurt is a really great guy and I think you'd get along if you could sort out whatever it is you guys have between you!'

'He is not better than us, though, right?'

'Never,' I assured him, patting his face quickly and sharply. 'You'll always be my favorite idiot.'

'And you'll always be my favorite klutz,' Fred added after a second.

'I'm not that much of a Klutz!' I protested, but I was interrupted as Fred dumped me out of his arms and onto the floor.

'Then why did you fall off the couch?'

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Hello, it's me, the author of this fanfiction. This is my first fanfiction so I'm super excited that it has gotten any views at all! It would really make my day to read any reviews that you guys have, so please review! Even negative ones help!

Just keep in mind that I'm super young, so please, nothing really harsh! Also, excuse me if there is a bit of a spelling problem, I'm typing this on my phone, so there are bound to be mistakes. (Sorry, don't own a laptop.)

Hope you enjoy (and review),

Maria M


	3. Chapter 3

Hello, and welcome to chapter three of "Those Redheaded Demons and Me". I would like to thank 'Shelbie', my guest reviewer and 'that redheaded girl', the only other review I have gotten. Thanks guys!

In this fanfiction, I will sort of be making an alternate storyline. Basically, Kalmine won't be too involved with Sirius Black and more so with her own plot. Also, in the books, Fred is the one with Angelina, but since it is parallel, George will be the one with Ange, and possibly even die when the time comes. (Don't worry, probably not going to happen, I love him too much!)

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The following weeks passed in a mostly calm manner, about as calm as things could get when you were hanging about with Fred and George, anyhow. The only differences were that 1. Harry had gotten edgier whenever I came near him, 2. Fred and George were obviously leaving me put out something. I had caught them whispering more than a few times and was getting flat out sick of it! 3. Kurt and I rarely spoke anymore, even when he gave me longing glances or tried to approach us. One of the twins or Lee would always give him a nasty look and he'd leave. I was really annoyed with the three of them by the time our first Hogsmeade weekend came along.

'We've been running low on Fanged Frisbees and Dung Bombs lately, Fred! Fancy buying some?' George was looking disinterestedly at the stash of things they had: they had a bigger inventory of Zonko supplies than Zester Zonko himself!

'Rubbish!' I snorted, 'When have you fellows ever been low on those things? Something isn't right!'

'Oh, ye of little faith,' George threw me a pack of Nosebleed Nougats, and I inspected them before putting them in the good pile. Not the explode pile, the not-the-right-color pile, or the makes-people-barf-and-it-isn't-a-Puking Pastille pile.

'Let's go. To Zonko's!' Throwing my head back with a maniacal laugh, I jumped through the portal door and into the day. I was so ready for a break.

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Fred and George knew Zonko's better than anyone on the face of the earth.

They single-handedly kept the store in business, as did I, as it was no secret that I had money to burn. Even being a half-blood or "mudblood" as I was constantly reminded didn't stop me from having Galleons, as my mother had always been in a good financial situation as far as muggle money went, and my family (before they died) had apparently been well off. So even more for the exchange. The redheaded twins merely sold their products to make money. So they sold jokes to buy jokes, the logic was shaky there, but whatever.

After about half an hour, I was loaded with stuff and ready to hit the road and get to Honeydukes for a Butterbeer, with the boys.

'So you see, the Tongue Toffees are a new and improved version of Zonko Lizard Licks...' George was saying as we walked down the cobbled path together.

'Is that illegal?'

'No!' Fred answered. 'It's genius, not illegal! Plus, it's completely different ingredients!' The two of us were walking, arm in arm, through the streets. As we were about to enter Honeydukes, a hand circled my arm, I was pulled from the shop and behind the crowds. Another hand closed over my mouth so me screams were stifled, I was pushed against the wall and was keenly aware of a wand pushed against my throat. The hand left my hand and my eyes focused on a blurry, dark figure.

'Scream, and you'll be dead before any of your little friends even know what happened to you.'

I whimpered, not recognizing the figure underneath her hood. Her Death Eaters hood. Something was familiar about her stance though, about her voice. The heavy drawl of words, the straight way she stood. Who was he, how did I know her?

'Good.' She whispered. 'Move and I'll slit your throat, Kalmine.'

'How do you know my name?' I was terrified beyond words.

'I know everything about you, Kalmine Potter. I know where you live, what you like, who your friends are, your goals and skills. Silly, silly.' The cloaked figure was scaring me, how did she know all that? Was it possible it was a bluff?

'Wh-what do you want?' I squealed, she presses the wand harder into my throat, it hurt, it really hurt.

'I need-' suddenly, a flash of red hair had tackled her to the ground, and another one had grabbed me and led me away.

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'That woman-she-she-' I choked out before breaking down in sobs against George, who was trying to calm me down.

'I know, we heard,' he assured me, patting my head in a brotherly way.

The horrible thoughts were burrowed into my mind as I realized what "we" meant. 'Oh my Merlin, Fred!'

'Yeah, mate,'

'What if she kills him, George? We have to go back!' I was desperately trying to pull George towards where I had been trapped by the woman.

'Touched you care so much, princess.' Fred emerged from behind the store, where the streets were empty. 'But I'm a big boy, been out of diapers for about a year now!'

'Oh shut up!' I shouted, throwing myself towards him. I was caught, good thing I was so tiny compared to Fred, or he would have been crushed beneath me. As it is, he was easily holding me up. Lifting a hand to my face, I realized I was still crying and wiped furiously at my cheeks. It was just that I was terrified of how she knew me, and that she had gotten Fred. If my friends died because of me, I wouldn't be be able to live with myself.

'Calm down, I'm alright Kal!'

'I know, you prick!' I exclaimed, slapping Fred's chest before burying my face in his shoulder. 'I just don't fancy getting that scared again.'

'Who was she?' Fred demanded suddenly. 'Why did she want to-to kill you?'

'I don't even know who she is!'

'A Death Eater.' George grimly said, his mouth a straight line-the usual smile not on it.

'I know,' Fred answered.

'By the way...' I said. 'Never do that again! You scared me!'

'You almost getting killed scared me,' he reasonably replied, looking me right in the eyes.

'Let's get out of here,' George grabbed my arm and Fred grabbed the other one. Something told me by their titanium grip it would be harder to wrench me away the second time.

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Kurt wrapped me in a big hug as soon as he saw me that day. He had, for some unknown reason, been hanging out in the castle while we were in Hogsmeade, and had probably heard about...

'Kal! I heard about the attack!'

I looked at him sceptically, my very soul feeling completely drained, my brain a hurricane of questions that went unanswered thus far. I had spoken to Dumbledore, and all he had as advice was to not go to Hogsmeade for the remainder of the year and to never be alone somewhere. Goodbye, privacy.

'How did you hear? I haven't told anyone and I somehow doubt Fred or George did...'

'Em-I heard from someone who asked George. Anyway, really sorry that it happened, did you see who did it?'

'No,' I replied. His answer was less than satisfactory and I was peeved at George for telling, but I let it go. Kurt was my friend, don't kill the messenger, right?

'Good,' he muttered, so I could barely hear it. He looked up with the realization that I could hear him, 'I mean that you aren't hurt.'

'Right,' I was suspicious now, of what I wasn't sure.

'Tell me if it happens again!' Kurt clapped me on the back and stalked away down the hall. It might've been uncalled for, but somwthing was unsettling about that conversation, about the whole issue. I just had to figure out what it was.

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We were laying on Fred's bed silently, as to not wake George. The twins both slept like logs, but we felt that we all deserved a sleep after a day like this one had been.

'Ay, Fred?' I asked, looking up at him from where I lay with my head on his lap, the familiar brown ones string back into my green ones.

'Yeah Kal?'

'Did you or George tell anyone about-you know-'

His face visibly darkened as I mentioned the possible attempt on my life previously, 'Why would we do that?'

'I don't know-'

'Did someone say something?' He demanded, sitting straighter and bearly making me fall off the bed.

'Hey!' Fred looked back down at me. 'Careful, I don't wanna fall, you git!'

'Excuse me, princess.' He mockingly bowed with his upper body.

I smiled easily, 'You are forgiven.'

'But did anyone say something?'

'Um, yes, Kurt did,' I quietly mumbled it, knowing full well that Fred didn't fly with that guy.

'Kurt did!' Fred scoffed. 'If he says it, it must be true then!'

'I never said that!'

'You were thinking it, I could tell. I'm physic.'

'You failed Divination!' My protests were completely true. 'Three times.'

'Quiet,' Fred laughed.

'I'm serious! I never was thinking it! Are you jealous, Freddie?'

To my surprise, a blush slowly spread across his cheeks and he ducked his head to hide it. 'No I'm not. Ridiculous, what is there to be jealous of?' The tone was too harsh to possibly belong to my BQMF (Best Questionably Male Friend, he wasn't a fan of the name. "I'm plenty masculine!" He'd say.) It hurt me for some reason. It hurt that he had said there was nothing to be jealous of, that he had been so harsh, although I wasn't sure why. It wasn't like I fancied him. Sometimes the thought occured to me but I always shook it off and blamed my irrational teenage hormones.

'Absolutely nothing, Fred.' I huffed, crossing my arms angrily. If he wanted to be an idiot, so be it.

'Hey,' he said gently. 'I didn't mean it like that, just...I just didn't want you to think that I fancied you, or anything,' he flushed as red as his hair. 'I know how irresistable I am, but that is no reason to be angry that I don't fancy you!'

'As if!'

'C'mon, I'm jealous, in a way.' He told me quietly. My heart stopped beating for a second, fear, anger, confusion and...hope welled in my chest. I hated when that happened, as I really hated the feeling I would get.

'How's that?' I half wanted to know and half didn't, both scared and eager to know thr true answer.

'I just...don't want him stealing my BQFF!'

'Huh?' The relief and the strange disapointment plagued at my mind for a second befire disappearing without a warning or trace.

'Best Questionably Female Friend.'

'Shut up!'

'You know I never will, princess,' he winked, I responded by sticking out my tongue at his unbelievable arrogance.

'Don't worry, you'll always be my best friend. I make an oath on Chocolate Frogs!'

'Chocolate Frogs.' He repeated slowly, deadpan.

'They're delicious!' I jumped to the defense of my favorite snack immediatly.

'Alright, fine. You'll always be my best friend also. Happy?'

'Very,' I grinned at him and glanced at the still sleeping George. 'He probably won't be about this...'

'He's my brother, he doesn't count,'

'If you say so.' I shook my head and nestled deeper into the matress.

'May I ask what you are doing?'

'No.' I mumbled, face pressed into his pillow. A boyish scent wafted into my nose. Almost like smoke mixed with leather and a more Fred-ish scent: grass. It smelt of days spent laughing in the spring chill of Hogwarts, like evenings in the dark under Harry's cloak of invisibility that George had 'borrowed', like hours spent talking next to the black lake when we were supposedly in classes. It smelt like my happiness.

'Well, I'm going to. What are you doing?'

I groaned, pulled from my disturbing smell speculation rudely. 'Sleeping, duh. Merlins trumpet, you're an idiot!'

'No I am not. George is, but that's besides the point. Why aren't you going back to your dormitory?'

'Gertie is a loud snorer, Angelina won't stop trying to give me what she calls a "makeover", Shelbie is annoyingly cheerful at night, and Fionina keeps waking me up to point out star patterns!'

'Interesting room-mates you've got there,' Fred smirked at me, I slapped his arm.

'I'm staying here.' I declared tiredly. 'Night, Freddie, don't let the Flobberworms bite.'

'Goodnight, Kal,' he whispered into the darkness, settling down beside me. I fell asleep to his hand stroking the hair away from my face and his cocky voice lulling me into oblivion.

OoOoOoOoOo

'Fancy seeing you two here.' George was looking down at us amusedly.

I bolted upright, shaking Fred's arm from around my waist where it had somehow settled during the night, and untangling my leg from the clump of four.

'I fell asleep!' I defended.

'We didn't-' Fred began.

'I was-'

'She-'

'Stop!' George hollered, his hands outstretched. 'I get the point! Merlin, you two are deadset on getting your point across!'

'We are.' I answered, getting up grudgingly and pulling on the robes I kept in their room in case of emergencies. (You'd be surprised how often I needed to use them.)

'So what were you two lovebirds up to before you fell asleep?' George winked at me, causing me to almost choke on my own saliva.

'Lovebirds? Right!'

'Ridiculous, George. I'm not that charming...I need at least a few dates to woo a girl!' Fred joked good naturedly. They shared a joyous look and I snapped at them with my fingers.

'Hello! We have classes!'

'Do we have to go?'Fred groaned into his pillow like a five year old going to kindergarten.

'Afraid so,' George muttered. 'Shame, shame, we could always swing by the Room of Requirments later and work on our products, I suppose.' He looked at the both if us expectantly before we realized he wanted an answer. 'Well?'

'I'm in, Weasley!'

'Which one?' They both chorused, making me laugh.

OoOoOoOoOo

Harry was acting odder than usual. He was nervous all the time, ever since a Dementor sighting on the Quidditch Pitch had made him fall off his broom. I had been there, I was a Chaser for the Gryffindor team and had watched my little brother plunge from the sky.

The players were zipping around, still playing the game as a heavy sense of dread overcame me. I suddenly felt as if all the bad moments of my life had been added together; nothing could ever be good again. I would just live in a pit of misery forever and the worst thing was that I was okay with it. I wasn't fighting back, I wasn't being who I was. I was a doormat.

This all happened before I also fell.

The voices were of a woman: who I remembered as my mother, screaming my name. Screaming Harry's name. I was only three years: I had only just turned three a week ago when Voldemort crashed in and tried to kill us all for my little brother. When I picked up my fallen mum's wand, pointed it at an uncaring Voldemort and repeated the spell he had just said to end my mothers life. I, as a baby, used the Avada Kedavra on the Dark Lord. Combined with Harry's power as the Boy Who Lived, Voldemort was powerless and was momentarily defeated by two babies.

Harry might her voices and have stories, might miss our parents for what he knew they had been and what he had lost that day they had died, but I had worse.

I had memories.

OoOoOoOoOo

 _Hey all!_

 _It's me, updating after a really long wait considering that this chapter was finished way before I posted it. It's just that school just let out and that means I was with my father , as he and my mother are divorced. So I go there every once in a while with my little sister, and he doesn't have WiFi. (IT IS HORRIFIC, YES, I KNOW.) So I will not be able to post chapters at his house._

 _Keep in mind that I will not abandon this story without saying so! So if it is a long wait but I haven't said anything, do not assume I'm giving it up!_

 _Lastly, I got a couple reviews and even if they aren't much, they made me so unbelievably happy that I couldn't stop smiling all day! Thanks to the ones who did review! Please please review, they make my day!_

 _Bye, PLEASE review!_

 _Maria McAndrew_


	4. Chapter 4

Fifth year was killing everbody.

Everywhere you went, you would see someone with their noses in a book, studying for the OWLs which were months away. The teachers were assigning at least three times the work of every other year, meaning I had hardly anytime at all to soend having fun if I wanted good grades, which I did. There were three elements that made up a perfect school year and you could only have two, take your pick. They were sleep, fun/friendships, and grades. I was constantly caught in the whirlwind inbetween.

It was when I was studying with Fionina that I became alerted again to strange thibgs happening.

'What's Wolfsbane?' She asked. Potions was her worst subject, Astronomy was her true passion.

'Something werewolves take to keep in their right minds while in wolf form,' I mindlessly repeated Professor Snape, an unpleasant man but not nearly as bad as Harry made him sound. Snape had always sort of liked me, much more so, apparantly, than Harry.

'Wouldn't that make it worse?'

'I don't quite understand the purpose, but I know that is what it does.'

'Noted.' Fionina groaned, pushing her book away and stretching like a cat. 'Why must we take Potions?'

'Why must we take any of the subjects? I sort of like Potions!' It was partly the truth. I liked being in Potions, as I had it with Lee, Fred, and George all at once. And it really wasn't horrible, like certain students made it sound.

'You just like it because you have friends in your potion class,' she responded bitterly. 'I'm all alone with the third years! All your brother does is whine behind me and Hermione Granger never stops being a know-it-all!'

'There, there.' I patted her back awkwardly, collecting another deep sigh. 'You just need to get your grade up, you'll be back with us in no time, Fi!'

'Right.' She scoffed. 'Where do you get Beozar?'

'Stomache of a goat.'

'Yuck!' Fionina made a face that implied her dislike for it's harvesting location, as Fionina was very sensitive to that stuff. At least she was better than Gertie, she was both an animal lover and a vegeterian. Let's just say it isn't a popular topic in our room.

OoOoOoOoOo

Steven Goyle was my arch-enemy. Older brother of Gregory Goyle, complete jerk, twit, he had all the qualities I detested locked into one fat package. He was arrogant and picky, ugly and ignorant, not to mention he fancied my best (female) friend, Gertie Sawicz.

(Pronounced Gurr-Tea Saow-its.)

'Leave us alone, Goyle,' I told him as he approached the two of us after Charms.

'Speak for y'self, blood traitor! I wanted to talk to Sawicz.' Goyle slurred like a drunken child. Gertie peered terrifiedly from next to me at him, her eyes big and pleading with me. Gertie was too shy and underspoken to possibly tell him to buzz off on her own.

Luckily, I wasn't. 'Buzz off.'

'I said I was here to speak with Sawicz, or are you deaf?'

'Leave her alone.' Gertie near whispered, but her soft voice was so soft that we all went quiet to strain to hear it.

'I wanted to-'

'We heard you!' I shouted, 'And she doesn't want to talk to you now or ever, Steven Goyle!'

'I don't,' Gertie repeated. 'Leave please.'

'You'll regret this, Potter.' Goyle hissed before leaving us in the hallway in peace.

OoOoOoOoOo

'Should we tell a Professor?' Gertie muttered from besides me as she munched her soup at lunch. 'He might've meant it!'

'I doubt he could actually do anything, Gertie!' I laughed it off and bit my sandwitch, 'Why would he do, sit on me and crush me to death?'

'Maybe,' she giggled at my laugh, he was the biggest fifth year at Hogwarts. 'Still, we should tell McGonogall.'

'I'll be fine, Gerts.'

'Don't call me that!'

OoOoOoOoOo

Fred slid next to me in a flourish on the couch, putting his arm around my shoulders and putting his face close to mine. 'Long time since I have seen you, Kal!'

'I guess good things don't last.' I murmured with a small smile, not looking up from my book on Underwater Plantlife in the magical kingdom.

'Watch it,' Fred warned. Without warning, he grabbed my book and threw it behind us. 'You're becoming so boring, Kal! When was the last time you hung out with me?' The funny part was that he really did look hurt, which made me feel bad, so I sighed and stood, to Fred's delight. 'Alright!'

'What do you want to do, genius?'

'I was thinking we could test the batches of Kinetic Putty we're keeping down at our Spot.'

'Kinetic Putty?' I asked, never having heard of it. 'What does it do?'

'Oh, we never showed you?' He slapped a hand to his forehead with an eager and mischievious grin across his mouth. 'Then this really will be fun.'

Once we were both at the Spot and settled into our places, Fred pulled buckets of clear white gel into view: it resembled Jello.

'Direct your thoughts to the putty, now,' Fred demanded, and I gave him a look like: 'are you crazy?' but followed directions. What kind of request is it to direct thoughts to putty?

As I did it, the putty began forming into something. A full color, and height, Fred appeared, wearing a shirt saying; I escaped the mental asylum.

I let out a loud gasp, 'That was exactly what I had been picturing! Wow!'

'I'm so offended right now,' he grumbled, I was way too impressed to care much.

'This is amazing! I cannot believe you did this!'

'Why?' He suddenly was acting defensive. It scared me, frankly.

'Because it-it's you and George! Wow!'

My wrist was grabbed, by warm, rough fingers. 'Do you think we are dumb?'

'Geez, Fred, you're an idiot sometimes,' I said as I saw real pain, real curiosity on his face. How could he believe I thought he was stupid?

'Okay then,' his face visibly shadowed, he turned away from me sadly.

'No, Fred! I was kidding, I meant you're an idiot for believing I believe that you are an idiot!' I paused to think. 'That was a confusing sentence.'

Fred looked up, I swear I saw the sadness still in his eyes. 'Really?'

'Yeah!' It was shocking, since when had FRED cared so much about what I thought? He had alway been more if a: "deal with what you think" kind of guy. 'I was teasing! This normally doesn't bother you, you never care what others think!' A sharp look from his direction, 'But I know you aren't stupid! Would I be best friends with someone stupid? No.'

Fred visibly brightened up. I wondered what had happened to lower his self-esteem so much. 'I care what you think, 'cuz you've earned it!' My heart caught in my throat as I watched him think. 'Why are you friends with Kurt if you aren't friends with idiots?'

'Oh stop, now isn't the time.' I slapped his arm, before grinning evily. 'And between you and me,' I dropped my voice, 'I said I wouldn't be best friends with an idiot, not friends.'

Fred laughed. Hard. 'Ha! You just admitted-'

'It is a joke, plus, it's what he gets for lying about George telling someone about...y'know...'

'Yeah!' Fred laughed once more before swinging an arm around me. 'Let's go test this on some...surprise subjects.'

Twenty minutes later, we were positioned with the goop outside the Slytherin dormitory, waiting for certain victims.

Out came Draco Malfoy with his pet Parkingson. Perfect. I thought of a giant purple dinosaur (with lots of imagination!) that somewhat resembled the one on a muggle television program I had once seen, and stiffled my laughter as Draco screamed a high pitched, girly scream.

OoOoOoOoOo

The incident was almost forgotten by the both of us by the time a week later when we were required to pair up and cast our patronuses in DADA. Our teacher, Remus Lupin, was a nice man that was down to earth and strange. He had a sadness about him, when he would look out into space and sigh, looking around the room dismally, like he was lost in memories. He would often just look at me, just look at how I acted. How I joked with the twins and how I pranked the Slytherins. Then he would be off again, somewhere in his world of memories. I just wish I understood how I triggered it.

And he was just so familiar. I could swear I had heard his voice before, even if it was a long time ago. But where?

I waved my wand, knowing full well I would have my Patronus up and about in no time. I had learned to cast one two years ago, when Harry had come and Dumbledore explained the true depth if the danger he might be put in to me. The true depth of protection I would need to offer to him. Fred and George, and Lee were the only people who knew.

My Patronus took the form of a Dolphin. Not that it needed water, it had it's own pool around it always. My dolphin glided around the room playfully, I was proud of it. Dolphins were intelligent and playful, and had a zest for life I had to admire. The fact that a dolphin was my Paronus made me feel happier about myself sometimes.

'Very good!' Professor Lupin praised. 'Never have I seen someone grasp the Patronus charm so quickly!' He smiled at me and I smiled back, proud of myself for showing I could do it to my classmates. 'See me after class!'

After class, I stood at his desk. 'You've done it before, haven't you?' Professor Lupin asked in a breathy.

'What?' I nearly choked on my own lip.

'Have you?'

'Yes,' I looked at him, almost shy. 'With Dumbledore, when Harry first came to the school. He told me he was in danger constantly... to learn to protect him...'

'Ahh,' Professor Lupin nodded at me understandingly. 'Impressive. Does he know?'

'Yes.' I told him truthfully. I had forgotten that I had told Harry as well.

'You can go, Kalmine Potter,' he seemed to like saying my name.

'Umm, I have a question.' I said awkwardly.

He was immediatly on alert. What a jumpy man, 'Go ahead, ask away.'

'Do I know you from someplace?' I saw the dumbfounded expression on his face, saw the disbelief in his eyes, as if someone had literally punched him in the gut. 'Sorry, it's ridiculous, but I can't help but feel like I have!'

'You might soon find out you know me more than you think,' he said vaguely.

'I'm supposed to leave now, aren't I?' Sigh.

Professor Lupin nodded amusedly.

'Aww! How can you just end with that?!'

OoOoOoOoOo

Hello to all you who've stuck with this story so long! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter with the interaction with Remus, I adore him!(Warning, do not read following sentence if you haven't read last book. And stop reading fanfiction, because it'll make more sense once you have finished the series!) I was so sad when he and Tonks died.

To be clear, it says that she learned it two years ago when Harry came to Hogwarts, but he's a third year. Yes, but remember , it did not happen immediatly, it took months to learn and to even begin lessons, so it would only be two years, not three. Please forgive me for any facts I mess up, I suck with keeping all them straight! :)

Thanks for reading! Enjoy and please, please review!

Maria M


	5. Chapter 5

I was sort of on edge lately, with the whole death threat thing going on, but that didn't stop me, or my friends for that matter, from making the most of our Fifth Year. In fact, I was pretty certain that Fred, George, and Lee had become even more determined to joke around and be silly, in an attempt to take my mind off of it.

I had caught Harry, Ron, and Hermione all whispering to each other multiple times this year, leaving me out of something. Not that I was a big part of their gang or anything, no, it would be odd being related to Harry and being two years older than them all, but they usually included me in things. Like when they were in First year and they told me about Professor Quirrell and the Fluffy situation. The familiar feeling of hurt couldn't help but latch onto me when I walked into the Gryffindor common room to see the three of them, heads bent together, deeply involved in conversation. They all snapped to attention as I walked in, me only catching words like: "Black, grim, Dumbledore."

'Hello,' I said lightly, but the bitterness in my tone laced it's way around the room. Bloody hell.

'Hey Kal,' Harry sat down next to me and gave me a brief, and rare, sibling hug. That was we would hug for less than two seconds, barely a hug at all. Usually reserved for siblings only. 'Listen, I know it seems like we've been keeping things from you this year, but Dumbledore told me specifically not to tell more people than I need to-'

'You NEED to tell Hermione and Ron but not your own sister? Is that it, then?'

'No!' Harry protested, helplessly looking from Ron to Hermione. 'It's for your own protection!'

I felt my gaze soften against my will. 'That's sweet Harry, really, but I can protect myself. And I'm pretty sure you of all people don't need to be protecting me!'

'I'm sorry-'

'I just want to know, does it concern me?' I demanded, putting my feet down and looking at him seriously.

Hesitation. That was the key feature that flashed onto my little brother's face for only a second. He must have been considering lying, but his honesty won out. 'Yes.'

'Then I want to know!' I harshly said. 'Harry, I'm your sister. You don't need to fight your battles without me to protect me.' Although I understood it, from his perspective. I wouldn't want to tell Harry something dangerous, either. I think it had something to do with the fact that all we had for family in this world was each other. Nothing would be so horrific if we got even that ripped from our grasp, especially Harry's tight one, that lingered on the edge of slipping sometimes.

'Okay,' he breathed in. 'Meet me in the library after dinner, I'll tell you everything.'

OoOoOoOoOo

'Harry says he'll tell me what's been up, lately,' I informed the boys later that day. 'After dinner.'

'Will you tell us?' Lee asked.

'I don't know… depends...' I smirked at the betrayal on each of their faces.

'Please?' George pleaded, on his knees. 'We've been so curious! Ron won't speak a word, the ruddy traitor!'

'Hmm, let me think-'

Fred approached me with a smile playing on his lips, before lunging at me. I shrieked, backing away, but it was too late. Warm hands circled my waist and legs, flipping me upside down so I hung from his shoulder, my head almost touching the ground.

'Fred Weasley, put me down!' Ugh. My voice sounded so nasally.

'Promise to tell us the secret, then, and I will!' He compromised. What a little rat.

'I promise nothing!' I replied, right before I was flung onto the couch, in front of the entire Gryffindor common room, including Angelina, and all my other friends, and was being viciously… tickled. 'Get off me Fred!' I hollered in between frantic laughs. Was it so bad that I didn't want it to end? This reminded me too much of fun times, before we all grew up, to want it to stop.

'Two words! I. Promise!' Fred continued tickling me, glee written in every fold of his face.

'Okay!' I was in hysterics. Somehow, my legs were trying to retreat into my stomach. 'I promise!'

Fred eased himself up off of me. 'All I wanted to hear.'

'He violently tickle interrogated you,' Lee sceptically clarified for the entire common room to hear.

'Tickle-terrogation!' I pumped my fist up and down as I created a glorious new word.

OoOoOoOoOo

Sauntering into the library after dinner, scanning the shelves for my brother was what I was currently doing. To not look suspicious, even if the library was mostly empty, I picked up a random book off the shelves and acted engrossed completely in it.

'Fancy seeing you here!' The voice of Kurt said, interrupting my thought process. Brilliant, Now I would have to escape to find Harry.

'I could say the same to you,' forced smile went to him. He grinned back, then frowned in confusion as he read the title of my book.

'I didn't know you were into Gilderoy Lockhart,' the disgust on Kurt's handsome, if pinched, face was evident. I saw the title. "Gilderoy Lockhart Travels With Trolls."

'I don't!' I hastily assured him. 'I was just-emm-looking for someone.'

'Was it your brother? I saw him by the back...'

I took off without another word, just a chaste wave gratefully ditching that AWFUL book. I wanted nothing to do with that lying, deceiving, low life pretty boy. His smile wasn't that twinkly, anyhow. All I knew was I disliked him before meeting him, because of the way he subtly talks himself up in his books. then, after he tried to do what he did to my brother and friends, he became more than just a git. He became an enemy and someone to despise.

I was shaken from my rageful train of thought once again by spotting Harry in a corner, where nobody sat.

'Harry,' I acknowledged as I sat down. The librarian shushed us. I hated her.

'Okay, we have to do this quickly, I don't want people to overhear us,' my brother whispered in a rush. Poor boy, he was visibly scared of DUMBLEDORE'S wrath. How he had dealt with so many monsters and people alike always amazed me. Not sure about how, but he had been the coolest baby I knew. How many people can say they've defeated the Dark Lord while they were wearing Pampers? Not many.

'Alright,'

'Well, remember when you snuck into Hogsmeade using the Maurader's Map with Fred and George? I did too, with Ron and Hermione. Through the same passage you used, the twins told me about it. Well, we were getting a Butterbeer at Rosmerta's pub and the Professors came in so I hid, and they didn't notice me, but we could hear them talking. They-they said- Hagrid, he-'

'What, Harry?' My voice was soft and kind. To clarify, the cloak was completely and totally Harry's. he had that from our dad, and I had received an invisibility orb that had belonged to my mother, when I was in first year. It was like the cloak, but anyone touching the orb was completely invisible, or anyone touching the person touching the orb. So if I had my hand on the orb, and george grabbed me, we would both be invisible, but if Kurt showed up, grabbed George, and was not punched in the face immediately, he wouldn't be.

'He said Sirius Black is our Godfather, Kalmine.'

OoOoOoOoOo

I had forgotten about him. Sirius Black, the escaped murdered from Azaban, and he had been the best friend of my parents. I vaguely remembered him in our house. I remembered mostly just flashes of him.

Harry's toy broomstick. His laughing face, nothing at all like in the papers. Picking me up as a three year old, saying my name. Skinning my knee, him fixing it for me. Saying I was "a regular Prongsette". A motorbike.

'Oh my god.' I gasped, putting a hand over my mouth. 'I remember him.'

'You do?' Harry looked alarmed, positively horrified.

'He was their best friend, mum and dad. He would come over so often, Harry, he was so nice. He called me… he called me… Prongslette, like dad...' my eyes widened. 'Prongslette. As in a female Prongs. As in Prongs of the Marauders Map! Dad is Prongs!'

'What?' Harry hollered after me as I stood up to leave, tell the twins everything. It was burning me up, my own father? His best friend had killed them! My dad was Prongs!'

'You'll soon see!' I shouted, just before the librarian stomped up and ordered us both out. Not that it mattered. I was leaving anyway!

OoOoOoOoOo

We all sat back in shock, finally letting the news sink in. Fred looked scared and gleeful, George the same, Lee mostly awed.

'Your father created the Mauraders Map. With his friends. An escaped murder is your Godfather.' George listed.

'I knew there was a reason you were so great at pranks!' Fred sat up in revelation. 'Now I know why! You're the product of one of the greatest minds that ever lived, the creator of the Marauders Map!'

'All this time I held the map.' I murmured to myself. 'I was touching something my father did. All this time.'

Looks of sympathy all around. Fred draped a comforting arm around me, putting his head on mine.

'But these guys were all mates, right?' Lee looked around at us all, confused. 'Do you have any clues who the other makers were?'

I thought about it for a moment, putting on my thinking face. 'Well, Black was his best mate from childhood so it's a safe assumption he was a Marauder. I think he called him...Paddy once, or Foot pad? Does that sound about right?'

'Padfoot!' Fred hollered. His face was a mask of horror. 'Oh Merlin, Padfoot is a murderer!'

'I know Dumbledore… he said something about a Peter Pettigrew, who Sirius murdered, being friends with the lot of them. No idea which one he would be...Wormtail, I bet. Dumbledore dropped a hint that he knew Pettigrew, he said he was a "very mousy man," so I suppose that would be him.' I scoffed at Dumbledore's love of riddles, the man really had a fun side sometimes. I could see why Fred and George respected him so much. A man who becomes headmaster of one of the only wizarding schools ever, has an Award of Merlin and his own Chocolate Frog Card, plus he's a jokester? They bow at his feet.

'That leaves Moony,' Lee stated. 'Any idea's?'

'No.' I said after a long pause. 'My memory of me while I was three is only so general.'

''S okay, Kal,' Fred bumped his knee into mine. I smiled. 'We'll find him.'

'I hope so.' I whispered. And maybe it wasn't only curiosity. Maybe, even though I didn't show it like my brother, I was hurting just as badly over the loss of my family, and getting answers, recovering the people who once meant so much to them, would give me closure. I felt like I owed it to them.

OoOoOoOoOo

Kurt was acting totally weird all the time now. Hanging out with Death Eater wanna be's. Picking on first year students. Black bags sagged under his eyes all the time now, a shadowed look haunting his once lively blue eyes. What had happened to the boy I once knew? What had happened to the friend I once knew?

Something snapped when I was walking back from Transfiguration with my arms loaded down with homework and books, and I saw him, cornering poor Hannah Kellie, a muggleborn first year. The poor, pigtailed girl was trying to escape, edging towards the door progressively, only to be halted over and over and over.

'Kurt!' I snarled, putting my books down. 'Leave her alone!'

He looked me in the eyes, his once happy eyes were clouded over like a storm was brewing inside them, but it wasn't that of the Imperius Curse, it was just a transformed boy's eyes. Evil eyes.

'Kalmine, please, I was just...'

'Just? I see what you're doing! How could you do what you've done lately?' I was shouting, venting the frustrations of the past couple weeks out on him, like he truly deserved.

'I'm doing what people need to do. Someone needs to put the mudblood's in their places, Kal! They cannot act like they own the school!'

My mouth dropped open. When had he become so bitter, so prejudiced against muggles? He had always been one of the nicest people ever, not even in Slytherin, he was Ravenclaw! What was going on with him, was this the brainwashing of Zabini and Parkinson, of Malfoy and Nott?

To be brainwashed this late in life, you had to want to be.

'Never use my name again.' I hissed, hot tears pricking into my eyes. No. No crying. crying in front of the enemy is a show of weakness, and showing weakness to the enemy is like death by a carrot being stabbed through you. It hurt, and it could easily be avoided, as it was unnecessary. 'I'm not Kal to you. I'm Potter, and you're not Kurt anymore. Kurt would have never done this, what have you done with that boy? With the one I wanted to be friends with? With the one who had human decency?!' The word enemy rang through my head. That was what one of my former best friends was now. Enemy. Enemy. Enemy.

'That boy is gone.' His mouth was a straight line. A harsh line.

That boy is gone, and things were going to change. I knew it as I whirled off down the hallway, watching Hannah escape through the door from the corner of my eye, watched Zabini strut up to Kurt and smack his back in a Buddy Buddy way. I knew that nothing would ever be the same.

Things were changing.

OoOoOoOoOo

 **Hey all! This is it; the fifth chapter of this story! I just want to clarify that there will be no schedule to my updates, as i do not want to feel pressured, because then this loses the fun. Also, this being my first fanfiction, ANY REVIEWS will make me SO SO happy. Even critisism helps, I get reviews that are a few words long and I cannot stop thinking about them all day! You guys really have no idea how much every follow, fave, view and REVIEW means to me, so please,**

 **Review, fave, follow!**

 ** _Maria Glitter Kitty_**


	6. Chapter 6

Professor Lupin was honestly the strangest man I had ever met, besides maybe Dumbledore and Snape. I would sit in class, mind my own business, and still have to pretend not to feel his eyes on my back, my face, searching for something. Wistfully. Frankly it creeped me out to the point of not even wanting to go back to Defense Class.

He also seemed unwilling to punish me.

I had been sitting in Defense Class, in front of a slimy Slytherin, who wouldn't stop smack talking me. All he went on about was how she was so much better at DADA than I was, which was a complete and utter LIE, as both Harry and I were the top of our class. I let it roll of my back, usually, but that day he wanted to cause a riot. So of course he stepped up his game.

'You know, I hear she hangs around those blood traitor Weasley's!' He giggled to his friend, who also laughed. I stiffened, and felt Lee besides me do so as well. 'Of course, she'd have to! An orphan Gryffindor cannot make friends with respectable people, she was forced to befriend stupid Weasels. I hear their dad is so low at the ministry he-' That was enough for me. I lept up out of my chair, trailing my wand on that snakes ugly mug and snarled.

'You shut up!' I hissed, 'The Weasley's are TWICE the people you are, you snake!'

The professor stood up at his desk. 'Sit down, Kalmine, please. It is not your duty to deal with him, it is mine, as a Professor.'

'But sir, you heard him! He was saying awful things-'

'Yes, I heard him, and he will receive detention for a week because of it.'

I grinned to myself. Detention for an entire week was more than usual for just insulting people. Guess the Professor had a soft spot for the Weasley family?

'A week?!' The boy yelped. 'I will not go to detention for a week!'

'I am the Professor, Mr. Doujin! I will ask you to sit down and allow me to continue my lesson.'

'Yes,' he said grumpily.

'Good. Who here can tell me what the effects of Veritaserum are?'

He didn't punish me for disturbing the class or nearly hexing a student. The twins were bewildered, as was Lee. Something was up with that man, and I was going to get to the bottom of it.

Days later, the Christmas decorations went up. I adored Christmas at Hogwarts, all the wonderful wreaths and decorations, even the stupid mistletoe reeked of spirit, which I loved. The twins, Ron, and Percy were all staying at Hogwarts for Christmas to my brother's (and my own) delight. It was boring alone. The twelve trees in the Great Hall shimmered with light, as if the decorations had captured starlight in itself and showered the tree in it.

The only issue was the mistletoe.

Fionina and I stood a foot away from where the mistletoe was hanging threateningly above our heads. It was Dumbledore's "clever" jinxed mistletoe, which meant that you had to kiss someone if you were under it. As in it froze you to the spot until somebody kissed you.

'What are we going to do?' Fionina whined, looking about the hallway. 'We can't pass it without going underneath! I hate that man sometimes!'

'We'll just have to be careful, hopefully if we stick to the wall we can get around without being caught.' I replied. 'Shall I go first?'

'Yes,'

I took a deep breath. Then, one foot in front of the other, I put my back against the wall to proceed to the other end. Inch, inch, inch by inch closer until I was so close I could stick out my hand and be on the other side. Inch, inch. I stepped out from my spot… but I was stuck. I cursed under my breath as I realized my foot had gone under, meaning I was frozen here. 'Really, was this necessary, Dumbledore? Now I need to kiss someone,'

Then, to my horror, Fionina's brother came around the corner and laughed at the sight of me. A year above us, Marco was adorable in the way a baby was, and really kind. I could see myself fancying him… but I didn't. The thing with Marco was he was bland. Unlike his sister.

'Hello ladies,' he said casually, 'I see you've found yourself in a questionable situation.'

'Yes, I have!' I snapped. 'Would you mind?'

His face took on a delicious shade of pink as he realized what I had asked. 'Wh-what?'

'Really, Marco, I'm not asking a huge favour of you!' I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. 'It just needs to be to get me out of here, now, if you won't help me out, please find someone who will!'

Fionina nudged him towards me. 'Quit being a baby, she's not proposing!'

Marco was now full on beet red, the prude. 'O-okay.' He quickly swooped in and kissed me, which wasn't really that awful. I sighed in relief and stepped out from underneath, then beckoned to Fionina since it was her turn. Marco scurried away.

Fionina made it past.

'Alright!' I high fived her, jumping in the air. Then, I caught sight of Fred watching me with a betrayed expression on his face. He looked less than thrilled. Why was that? 'Hold on, Fio, I need to go see something.' I walked over to where Fred stood by himself, my mind racing the whole walk. What had I done? Why was he angry? Was it at me?

'Fred? Alright?'

He whirled to face me, indeed not looking alright. He looked furious and upset. 'Yes. GREAT, in fact. Never been better in my entire-bloody-life!' I was taken aback. Fred was never angry! Always happy!

'You aren't acting like you're great-'

'Well I am!' He hissed, before stomping off. I shook my head in confusion. Why oh why was he acting like such a priss?

It wasn't until I went to walk to Transfiguration, once again alone, I was still pondering his behavior, that I felt a little taste of the same thing. Because what I saw was Fred Weasley and Katie Bell, my friend, snogging against the wall.

The torrent of emotions rolled into my soul like a steamroller, running over any thoughts, leaving only anger, fear, confusion. I hated this. I hated Katie. No I didn't. Wait, yes I did. Why did I hate her again? Oh right, because she was kissing Fred. Why did that bother me? Oh right, because I fancied him. Wait, no I did not. Yes, I'm pretty sure I do! No, I DO NOT.

Yes, I do. And I hated it. No way would I want to ruin our friendship by ever, ever admitting it to anyone ever. So I did what anyone in my situation would do; pretended not to care. Even if I would never be an oscar winner, I might be able to pull it off. I walked down the corridor, watching them out of the corner of my eye, feeling betrayed by Katie. She was my friend! But she hadn't known, right? I had denied it whenever anybody asked! So it wasn't her fault.

Ugh, how utterly confusingly terrible.

Right as I passed them with (what I hoped was) a carefree smile on my face that was rather forced, I looked Fred in the eye. He still looked angry. But there was a certain triumph in his eye that made me want to smack him. When he saw me, he looked even angrier. Guess that meant my acting was good enough to convince him I DID NOT CARE AT ALL. Even if nothing could be further from the truth.

That night, I did not cry. Instead, I lay in bed and watched the shadows dance above me, feeling like the world was slowly lowering itself onto my shoulders, all too aware of Katie's breathing that was so close to mine. She kissed Fred, she kissed Fred. My mind did a tap dance around what had happened, what I had admitted. She kissed Fred, she kissed Fred. I bashed my head into my pillow repeatedly. I fancy Fred, I fancy-

'Enough!' I said to myself, sitting up out of bed. I couldn't take this. Pulling on jeans and a loose shirt, I ran out of the room, regardless of the rules, and snuck into the bathroom where Myrtle lay in wait.

'Who's there?' She demanded. Her voice had that forever watery quality that made her sound like she had swallowed something. Probably her latest tears.

'It's me, Myrtle,' I whispered. She and I were sort of friends, regardless of how weird people thought it was. She needed friends, and she fancied my brother, and she had never been mean to me. She was interesting, telling stories of her life, her horrible life. Bullies had forever haunted the poor girl; in life and in death.

'Oh, Kalmine!' She brightened. 'You shouldn't be here. I remember I got caught once when I was out of bed… it was bad,'

'I needed to get out of my room,' I explained. 'You see, I made a disturbing discovery today.' I proceeded to tell her everything, the whole time she just listened.

'Oh,' she said. 'That's bad. Do you want to cry? You could use one of the toilets.'

'No, I just… I had to escape. I hope you don't mind that I stay here.'

'No, it's nice having company. Nobody ever comes here. I can hear them through the vents though. Myrtle is weird! Myrtle is ugly!'

'Nobody calls you ugly,' I protested, even if it was untrue.

'Sure they do,' she said.

I waited there for another hour, until I had to go.

OoOoOoOoOo

I avoided Fred for the rest of the week, or more so that he avoided me. Wherever I went, he wasn't there, and wherever he did go, I wasn't there. So George was conflicted and so was Lee. It wasn't a full on war or anything, but it was mutually agreed that we weren't speaking.

George approached me after class one day. 'Why are you and Fred not speaking?'

'I would talk to him,' I lied.

'That's a lie.'

Bollocks.

'It is not!'

"Yes it is, Kal, I can see through you! Tell me why!'

"No,' I said. I left him in the hallway.

This went on, Lee and George trying to get me to spill it, but I never cracked under the pressure, I continued spouting lies and more lies. My days were so boring without Fred in them, but that was what he got for being a git. But was it worth it to punish myself? It really wasn't up to me at all: Fred had all the power here, even if I didn't want to admit it.

OoOoOoOoOo

The good news about my lack of time with the boys was I got to spend some more time with my girls. They were forever feeling forgotten by me, since I regularly hung out with the twins and Lee, meaning I was not a full part of the group. Or at least that was how I saw it. I was the one out of the loop, because I sat with Fred and George, I talked with Fred and George and I was tied to Fred and George in a way that excluded my participation from other groups, an all consuming way. I planned to change that in whatever time I had.

'What is UP with you and Fred lately?' Fionina demanded, picking at her nails. 'You haven't spoken in so long, love, what's been going on?'

'Nothing,' I insisted.

'Don't give me that!' Katie waved her hand. I still felt a stabbing pain in my heart everytime I saw her. She was increasingly annoying me in a newfound way, probably because of what I had seen. Her awful voice… no, she was my friend. FRIEND. 'I know something must be going on, Kal! Fred's been so moody and upset lately! All he ever talks about is you and when he's not he's thinking it! And you! All you do is mope!'

It made my heart do a weird little thump when she said Fred talked about me. I shook it off. 'I do not mope!'

'You do so,' Fionina laughed. 'You have been sad and distant all week.'

'What, I have to be happy all the time?' I scowled at my knees that were tucked to my chest. 'Anyway, I'd talk to him if he talked to me!'

'Nobody likes grumpy Fred or Kal. You have to fix what you're fighting about!' Fionina slammed her hand into the bed we were sitting on for emphasis, making me cringe. The bed shook with the impact.

'I don't know what we're fighting about!' I shouted. 'I just know he's been angry since the day with the mistletoe!'

'What happened with the mistletoe?' Katie cocked her head, I resisted the urge to snarl at her like an animal. God, this fancying thing sucked.

'Fionina and I just went under the mistletoe, I got stuck and Fio's brother kissed me to help me get out! That. Was. It!' Fionina and Katie shared a look, shaking their heads at each other.

'Well there you go! Fred saw and got jealous!' Katie rolled her eyes.

'Why would he be jealous? We're not dating!'

'So? Fred clearly fancies you,' Fionina said. I shook my head, they didn't know anything, did they?

'No, I'm friends with him and that's all!' I insisted.

'How can you be just friends with a boy and spend so much time together, without at least fancying him?' Katie looked at me for an answer.

'I spend that much time with George and Lee, how come you haven't accused me of fancying THEM?' I was so confused. Fancy me? No, he kissed Katie!

'It's always been different with Fred and you, hon. Everyone sees it! George and Jordan… well, they're like your brother's,'

'So what? It doesn't mean I fancy anyone!' I said stubbornly, crossing my arms around my knees and burying my face in my knees. I hated lying to my friends.

'Riiight.' They both chorused, sharing a knowing look. I gave them a swift pillow to the head. Twice!

 **A/N:**

 **Hey all! It's Maria updating again!**

 **Sorry it took so long but I LOST ALL MY WRITING because my device crashed. I was heartbroken. :(**

 **Anyways, I'm going to continue writing this even if I have to start from scratch because I love Kal so much right now, it is not funny. Please review! More reviews mean more inspiration and more inspiration means more updates!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Maria Glitter Kitty**


	7. Chapter 7

I hated Fred with a passion. Maybe not exactly true, I didn't quite hate him, but I was sure annoyed with him. I mean, it wasn't something new to me to feel annoyed by him, George, or eve Lee sometimes, but normally it was a passing anger. About as easy to hold onto as wind itself. It would pass within minutes usually, they had pulled some sort of prank that had backfired on me or they had dragged me into a bad situation; never something like this. I guess it was sort of trouble in paradise sort of situation, which had never happened before. I also felt so silly all the time, focusing so much on Fred this and Fred that. Sirius Black was my godfather and was out to get my little brother, so what did I do? Worry about bloody boys! It would have to stop.

Speaking of Harry, I had much more time to spend with him lately so I did. Not many sister's could say their brothers wanted to hang around with them, but we were sort of a special case. Poor Harry (and myself, even if I rarely showed it) was so desperate to feel the family connection so many kids had but we lacked. He just wanted a family.

Ron's rat wasn't looking good. Normally Scabbers liked me somewhat, he would normally sit nearer to me than to the other's, as if he were afraid of them. Maybe Scabbers was a super rat that had the mind of a human and he knew that the less time he spent in Ron's pocket, the less odds there was of his being dragged along on an adventure and being killed. Hah! Unlikely.

Lee slid into the empty seat next to me during Divination. 'Do you mind, Kal? I know normally Fred would sit here but...' he looked at the row beside us where Fred and George were deep in conversation about something. I winced.

'Sure,' I smiled and directed my attention to the front, 'I always fail this stupid class. What a load of rubbish! I once wrote about a good dream I had and Professor Trelawney went absolutely mental! I'm tempted to do it again, actually, just to see her face.'

'That'd be good...' Lee looked into space as if deep in thought, 'maybe we could organize the entire class to do it and then she might REALLY explode!' I pictured it and burst out laughing, drawing the attention of the room.

'Sorry,' I addressed the stares, people turned back to their own conversations. Right as I was about to open my mouth again to fill the buzzing silence around our desk, Professor Trelawney floated in. She was walking in a way that she assumed look mystical but actually made her look like a balloon without a string, and her spectacled actually made her look like a crazy woman. Entertaining class this would be.

'Good morn, class,' she swayed on time to the words as if there was an imaginary beat to it. 'Today we shall be exploring the ancient art used by me many times before to predict the grimmest of truths; tea leaves.' Lee besides me snickered. 'Mr. Jordan! Ms. Potter! If you could please stop laughing at my difficult and beautiful work I would appreciate it greatly!'

I snapped back to attention, Lee and I chorused, 'Yes, Professor.' She handed out our leaves and our teacups, telling us to read them. What did that even mean?

'Lee, I think you're going to be… run over by an ostrich?' He chuckled, 'No really! This kind of looks like a bird, right?'

'This is such rubbish,' he grumbled after he stopped giggling like a girl. He accepted my cup. After examining it, he reached his idiotic conclusion. 'Professor, Kal's going to get a dog!' I laughed at the sight of the distinct dog shaped blob in my cup, but stopped when she stood above me and snatched it. Her face became solemn, which scared me for some reason.

'My dear, you are in grave danger. You have the grim!'

'The-the what?' The kook had finally lost it.

'The grim! An omen of sure death! Oh!' She fell sideways and clutched at her heart. 'Just like your brother! Great misfortune awaits you both, great misfortune-' I got angry. How dare she scare my brother like that? He always took things too seriously! Once class ended, I couldn't help but notice everyone edging around me as if the Grim was contagious.

Lee was disgusted. 'What utter shite! That woman has no idea what she's talking about half the time! Full on firewhisky I reckon-'

'Kal!' Called George from across the hall, dragging a very unwilling Fred with him. I pretended not to notice Fred even if my heart started doing an odd little tap dance as he approached. Damn this, my sure death was just predicted! Was I completely mad?!

'Hello, George,' I said cooly. Ignore Fred, Kalmine. Ignore him! Ignore his blue eyes, they're looking at you, look away! IGNORE IT! This was harder than it sounded.

'Er-you don't think any of that is true, do you?' He asked. 'Is it really a coincidence that both you and Harry got it on the same day? Maybe-'

'End that sentence right now,' I hissed,'I'm not about to live my life afraid of what MIGHT happen, because if I did I would already have fallen into a pit of despair. I'm freaking Kalmine Potter, which means I'm always in jeopardy! So shut up, George, don't make me more freaked out than I already am.'

'Ahh, right,' he answered. He looked perfectly terrified by my little blow up, 'Any news on the whole godfather front?'

'Not a thing. Dumbledore might not even know I know!'

'You'd be surprised what that man knows,' Lee shivered next to me as he said so, it was so true. 'One year, I was dating Katie Bell and-'

'How is that the same issue at all?' I snapped. 'Katie's horrible choice in men has nothing to do with the possible death of my brother and I!'

'Hey!' Lee protested as George and Fred started laughing. I looked strangely at Fred to say, "We're not on good terms, remember?" and he stopped quickly, almost mournfully. Poor little Freddie. Not. And I would not feel bad for him even if he made that stupid sad face I always fell for until he apologized for blowing up on me for no reason!

'I happen to think Katie has fantastic taste,' George said. 'If you get my drift.'

'I do,' I replied, turning to face Lee. 'Lee, George has a crush on you.' Lee and Fred burst out laughing, me once again glaring at Fred. It was George's turn to groan.

'NO! Kal that is not what I meant!'

'That's what I understand,' I blinked innocently and he groaned and said a very mean word to me.

'I meant that us Weasley's can be very charming,' he elbowed Fred, who's eyes widened as he tried pulling George away. It was weird that Fred hadn't said a single word. What had happened to the talkative boy I knew? Oh right, I wasn't talking to him anymore. It made me want to cry.

'Lee's not a Weasley, mate,'

'Right. Remember that.' Fred said suddenly. I was torn between glaring at him again or jumping for joy that he had spoken, even if it was in a rude tone like his was. Then he pulled George away into the throng of students, leaving me more confused than ever.

OoOoOoOoOo

It was Christmas time, finally time for break. I was so excited for a much needed vacation from all the O.W.L curriculum, but the only thing wrong was that I was staying at the Burrow. Not, usually I adored the Burrow, in all it's unorganized homey glory. But since I wasn't on good terms with Fred at all, I wasn't looking forward to it so much as always. I wouldn't allow him to ruin the fun of Christmas, no siree, I would toughen it out though!

We all got a compartment together and chatted, the exception being Fred to me and I to Fred. Leaving horrible gaps in the conversation. It really made the ride seem longer than usual. When we finally pulled up outside, Arthur Weasley was waiting for us, and he grabbed my trunk as I got out and rushed to him.

'Kal! How nice it is to see you!' He ruffled my hair in a fatherly way. 'You've grown so much since I last saw you! It's been almost a year and a half!'

'Yeah, Mr. W, it's been waaay too long. I miss the Burrow!'

'Home we go then,' he said with a grin. I could see where the twins got theirs from. The second we walked in the door, adding Ron and Harry to the gang of people coming in, Molly jumped on us.

'Oh Harry! You look so handsome!' Harry flushed beet red to the tip of his ears. Poor lad. 'And you Kalmine!' I groaned inwardly. She meant well, honestly she did, and I was always glad when people showed an interest in me, especially an adult that was like a mother to me, but she overdid it sometimes. 'What a beautiful young woman you've become!' I turned red as well. 'If only you'd let me do something with that hair of yours...' I shook her hand away from my face like I was a dog.

'Mum, leave them alone!' George laughed good naturedly, and I thanked him in my head for drawing the attention of of me.

'Is that Kalmine and Harry Potter?' Came a familiarly obnoxious voice from farther into the house. Percy Weasley.

'Yes, Percy!' Mr. Weasley shouted in response. 'Why don't you come see them?' No! I pleaded in my head. Percy strolled up to me in all his Head Boy glory, which really was less than glorified. He was such an underwhelming authority that kids were actually tempted to break the rules more than ever. They must understand how easy it was to wind up Percy without getting caught. Regardless of his spot on grades, Percy Weasley was horribly ignorant when it came to how people saw him: he wasn't street smart. Or Hogwarts smart.

'Ah, Kalmine, very good to see you,' his nose was in the air like he had smelt something terrible. Probably took a whiff of his robes again.

'Likewise,' I said kindly, it was apparent neither of us were pleased to see each other. We had never gotten along that much, so it wasn't a big loss to me.

'I would have spoken to you more during school, but I was occupied with my duties-'

'Percy we all know you're Head Boy. We see you polishing that bloody badge twice a day! Why don't you just marry it already and make it official, god knows you'll never get anyone else.' Fred smirked. Percy heated up from head to toe, almost matching the shade of his hair quite satisfyingly. I held out my hand for a high five without thinking and Fred, also without thinking, slapped it before we realized we were still angry. We both looked sheepishly away. George raised his eyebrows at the pair of us, making me scowl.

'Let's get you to Ginny's room, then,' Molly chirped happily. I followed her head down like an obedient puppy following its (very) strict master.

OoOoOoOoOo

I awoke to a very heavy body shaped lump squashing me on Christmas morning and yelling, 'WAKE UP!' in my ear. Merlin, it was early. I moved about as if to buck the person off, but a yelp sounded in my ear and I tried to bolt up in my bed, but I was held there. This person was really heavy, probably forty pounds to my own 120. I groaned and peeked up at my attacker to see… Fred. My chest constricted at the sight of his grinning face that was staring down at me.

'Geroffme!' I managed to choke out all in one breath before I started gasping for breath. He rolled to the side.

'Good morning Kal! And more importantly- HAPPY CHRISTMAS! NOW GET OUT OF BED!'

'I would if you got off of me! You're ruddy heavy!' I moaned, holding in my elation at his speaking to me. Wait no I was still angry. But it was Christmas…

'How you insult me sometimes,' he wagged a finger in my face. 'Here!' He shoved a wrapped package in my hands. It was totally awful looking but it was the thought that counted, right?

'Thanks Fred, here,' I forked over my own gift to him sheepishly. He grinned back at me and put it down, jumping back on top of me. 'Anyway, get off me Fred. It's three in the goddamned morning! And I thought you were mad at me.'

'I was,' he frowned, 'and you were mad at me too!'

'Why?' I demanded. 'Why were you so mad at me, I never DID anything! It just… it sort of hurt, y'know? To have your best friend just suddenly be angry with you without even telling you why!'

'I'm sorry.' He mumbled. 'I-I don't know quite why I was so angry. I won't do it again. Scouts honor.' He held a hand to his heart and pledged. 'Wait, you consider me your best friend?'

I smiled mischievously and held a finger to my lips. 'Don't tell George.'

'Yes!' Fred hollered. Then he settled into my bed besides me. 'Good night.'

'More like good morning,' I muttered. My heart was drumming in my ears madly. Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump. With that, we both fell asleep, Fred's arm slung around my shoulders. The last time we had done this was when we were twelve years old. The last time I had felt so comfortable and content was never.

 _A/N:_ _Hey my lovelies! I updated quickly because it was really bumming me out, to know I ended with Fred and Kalmine on bad terms, Is that normal? No? Good. Neither am I. Smiley face._

 _Please REVIEW, all reviews I get are awesome. Thanks to:_

 _Shelby, a guest reviewer, Kayla DeLana, and that red head girl 14 for reviewing!_ _Also, thanks to:_ **_Divergentprincess_** **_Kayla DeLana_** **_KuroLolita1998_** **_Phljulianna_** **_RandomAnonymousFanGirl_** **_TheOriginalQueensOfWriting_** **_shadowbella987_** **_that red head girl 14_** **_BrightEyedNightOwl_** **_kanna-yamamoto_** _for favoriting or following or both! Thanks to you guys all so much, I love ALL OF YOU so much!_

 _Remember, REVIEW!_ _Stay awesome,_

 ** _Maria Glitter Kitty_**


	8. Chapter 8

We woke up later at a now godly hour, instead of three in the morning like Fred had forced me to the first time. By for up, I mean George was standing in the doorway smugly: the trademarked "I told you so" Weasley smirk across his features. I wanted to slap him so badly it wasn't funny. 'Well, well, what do we have here?'

'Nothing, George,' I rolled my eyes at the pair of them, 'really, must you be so immature. No, do not answer that!' Fred laughed. 'And you! No more waking me up so bloody early!'

'Never,' Fred grinned and bolted down the stairs to join the festivities. It was adorable, really, how enthusiastic he was. 'HAPPY CHRISTMAS!' His shouts bounced about the house, making me smile.

'Kal, what was that?' George asked, now momentarily serious.

'Fred woke me up and we made up! Is that really so bad?' I defended myself, feeling the heat creeping up behind my ears and onto my cheeks. No, I simply could not blush here or now! So I forced it back.

'Do you fancy Fred?' He asked.

'No!' I lied. 'Where would you get that idea? He's my friend!'

'He likes you quite a bit, Kal. Don't be scared to,' George threw me a humourless wink, 'not to mention that the entire family's been hoping for it to happen sometime.'

'They have?' My mouth fell open. Sure Molly Weasley always acted happy when Fred sat next to me, and Arthur Weasley acted amused if I accidentally grabbed his hand, and maybe Ginny had always hinted at it... Merlin! They really had been trying to force us together! Had he noticed? A part of me hoped so, a very small part. Outweighed by the elephant in my soul trumpeting that I hoped Fred had no knowledge of this, that he was just as oblivious to this as I had been until a moment ago.

My thoughts were cut to a halt as Fred came sliding back into the room in his socks, with a large mountain of gifts in his arms. 'George, get yours and we'll open them!' I prodded him out the door, eager to be done with the conversation. One look at George made it clear that he would back and bugging me soon, persistent little bugger that he was.

George returned with his gifts in tow and we all settled back to open them. I had more gifts than ever in my life.

Fred and George had both pitched in to get me an amazing moving wall charm: available at Zonko's, you could buy one to place in your wall and program it with any images to make a slideshow on your wall from within, sort of like a giant moving picture. I had been wanting one badly, nothing would liven up our room at the Dursleys more than a permanent memento from the wizarding world on our wall. The place we were happy. This was easily the best present I had gotten.

Ginny had gotten me a lovely scarf that she herself had made when she took up knitting. One would never suspect little Ginny to be good with that, but I suppose she got it from Mrs. Weasley, who had given me one of the usual Weasley sweaters with a K on it.

Ron had gotten me enough Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans to last me through the school year, Hermione had given me a self-correcting quill that fixed spelling mistakes and a set of Muggle Books. Lee had sent me the usual truckload of Zonko's merchandise, which I was always grateful for. How else would I keep myself entertained during summers?

Abigail had gotten me a friendship bracelet, one that changes color according to the mood of the person wearing the twin bracelet, which would be herself. Fionina had given me a beautiful pack of hair things (very subtle) and Katie had sent a beautifully decorated bunch of Christmas Cookies via owl, explaining her specific instructions to the owl not to eat any.

Harry had gotten me a decorating quit, to design whatever I felt like. I might make picture frames to hold the moving pictures that were stuck to wall in the room at the Dursleys house: ever since I learned the sticking charm, we would each being three pictures from our year at Hogwarts to stick to the wall. By the time we finished, there should be Forty-Two pictures exactly. It was bloody good that Vernon Dursleys had sworn never to enter that "dirty, freak holding" part of the house or he would be furious to learn this.

The strangest thing, though, was a gift I had gotten that was without a tag, but was gorgeously wrapped in red and gold paper, I smiled at the Gryffindor colors before me before opening the package. As curiosity got the better of me. Inside was a simple gold sweater. It was, on first appearance, garbage. It was worn and slightly dirty, very old, the fabric sagged in odd ways and in inconvenient places. It was also much too big for me and was for a boy about my age, not a girl. The front had a picture of a buck or a stag sewn onto it. Who would give me such a thing?

There was a letter.

 _Kalmine,_

 _This gift may confuse you, as it should. This article of clothing is not in very good current condition, not the glorified condition it once was in that I remember it by. For many years I have selfishly held onto this as a last reminder of my best childhood friend, my best friend through my life. But since I've come to teach you, I have realized how unfair it would be to keep it any longer._

 _So here I entrust you with what was once one of your fathers greatest treasures and is still one of mine. His Marauder sweater, I trust that you, Kal, have figured out who we are by now. Or at least who we were._

 _James would have wanted his eldest child to have this, I am sure. I see you in him often._

 _Happy Christmas,_

 _Professor R. Lupin_

I gasped and held the sweater close to my face. It had obviously not been washed in ages... To think my father was the last person who had worn this, that my father's skin had touched this like mine did now. I could still smell the comforting scent of bark and broom polish, a scent I associated with safety, strength, my childhood, and now I understood why that was. It was because it was the scent of my parent.

I also guess this meant Moony was the Professor. Remus Lupin had been my father's friend. Explained why he always watched me so closely. Everything made a sudden wonderful sense.

I felt a single tear drop off my face and onto the sweater. I missed them so much it hurt sometimes. Everything about them. Even if I had been only about three or four years of age, I remembered my mother's laugh vividly, my father's hearty voice like it still spoke to me. I remember the walks in the woods and that awful cat we had owned, Petunia. After mom's sister, as in my aunt.

The cat was a lot like her, actually. Same sharp teeth, high pitched whine, same tufty black hair and muddy yellow eyes. Same aggressively annoying and cowardly nature.

What I wouldn't do just to see that stupid cat now, just I have a piece of my old life back. No, not my old life, I hadn't been old enough to form a full life yet. It was the life I was so close to having.

I washed the sweater with help from Percy, who was seventeen by now, careful not to wash off the smell of home, and repaired it with help from him as well. Maybe he was a downright arrogant twit, but he had a heart at least, so when I knocked on his door with the sweater in hand and tears staining my cheeks, he had readily agreed to fix it. Maybe I didn't give him enough of a chance sometimes.

I scribbled out my reply to the professor, saying yes, I appreciated it and that I was so thankful. Then I ran down to the kitchen to meet the Weasleys and my brother.

The first thing that happened when I walked in was people asking why I wore that sweater instead of my official Weasley one. I explained it all quickly. That made everybody be silent really fast, then talk ten times faster and louder than before in an attempt to make up the silence. Harry was the only one not talking to anyone but walking to me.

'Can I?' He asked once he got near enough, gesturing at the sweater. I nodded, slipping it off and handing it gently to him. A part of me, a selfish part of me screamed not give it to him, that this was my sweater and not his. Luckily, I pushed that part of me away from my mind like I often had done in the past. He did exactly what I had done, stuck his face in it and inhaled deeply. 'Is this what he smelled like? Dad I mean?'

'Yes,' I said fondly, 'that's the smell of home. I remember it. He would help you polish that blasted toy broom that scared the hell out of mum and the cat, and then we would look at the trees in the forest and climb them until I was too afraid to go higher.'

'We had a cat?' He said wistfully. I nodded, surprised. He had never known? I had always accepted it as a fact of life, he had never even known. 'Can you tell me about home?'

'Sure,' I told him, 'I only remember bits of it, some discovered by Dumbledore when he used Occlumency on me in the fifth year.'

'Start with the cat,' he said, sitting down next to me. I smiled to myself, thoroughly enjoying the feeling of family that hung in the air between us.

'Ugly thing, it was. Named after Aunt Petunia, and just as bad. Black fur and yellow eyes, hateful thing, but mum found it on the street and insisted we keep it. It only liked her, not me or you or dad.' I began. 'Dad had a lot of friends that would come over, all I remember is the noise they would make. Mum talked a lot about another friend she had used to have in school who had betrayed her when they were older, in fifth year. I forgot his name, but dad and his friends hated him.

'I had a fish. My earliest sad memory is of that fish being flushed down the toilet after he died, and of mum and dad holding my hands and saying that he would be fine, he would go to fish heaven where nobody ever forgot to change his water or feed him and no ugly cats would ever try and eat him. Mum was also a camera addict, some of these things I only remember because they had been caught on film and I watched the films before they were destroyed by accident in my third year. She would follow everybody who set foot in our house with that thing to make memories.

'Dad routed for the Niagra Nymphs as his Quidditch Team, whenever we would watch it he would be all decked out in blue and purple, their colours. Dad was insanely competitive, I watched a video of him and mum playing muggle soccer in the driveway once and he creamed her badly, no regret. Oh yeah, and he had a long scar on his arm from an accident that had happened during his Hogwarts school days.

'Mum was smart, like Hermione but less of a know it all. She also was a horrible singer, always walking around the house with me in her arms and singing at the top I her lungs. Dad never stopped her though, he was too in love with her I suppose. They really were in love, Harry.'

I caught my breath finally, after deeming it enough to present to my poor brother who didn't even have the same memories I did. He looked so, so sad to not be able to see these and understand it the way I did. He had never known our parents. He just missed the idea of what they stood for. I wanted him to miss THEM as people.

'I guess that's why he gave it to you,' Harry said miserably, 'he knew you'd understand it better.'

'Harry-'

'No, I'll be fine, Happy Christmas.' He gave me a quick hug before going to join Ron. 'Thank you.'

The rest of the day, even through the festivities that I knew everyone had put so much effort into, I felt absolutely awful. I wasn't feeling awful enough to give it to him, selfish of me I know, but it was the raw truth. This was mine. Not my brother's.

There was a lot of talk about Sirius Black, my godfather who had killed Mum and Dads and Peter Pettigrew, who I had learned was also a friend of father's. Lucky the awful man hadn't gotten to the last of them, Professor Lupin, or we'd be out a pretty great Defense Teacher. Whenever I saw his horrific picture somewhere I felt foreign disgust curl in my insides, a dread that only that man could being. He did not deserve to be free while many others were dead at his hands. He didn't deserve to have a life at all, in my opinion. He deserved the worst they could give.

His picture in itself was heartbreaking. The man in the picture looked as if he might bite, certainly looking like the typical murderer would be expected to with those cold grey eyes and gangly hair. Though I suppose this in itself was hardly his fault: if I were in Azkaban I wouldn't be too worried about my hair either. And my hair was awful as it was, much like Harry's but longer. It looked as if he had once been very attractive, how lives could waste away. It also brought back bad memories I had watched on my mother's tapes of that very man playing with Harry and I as children, acting so happy and wonderful that I was certain he wasn't the same person at all but a replica. How could the man who had gotten me my first broom, taught me the difference between cats and dogs (cats sucked, dogs ruled), who had played hide and seek with me do this? It almost didn't seem possible but the reality was all around me. People changed or the worse I guess. I hated it.

After we had gone through the usual routine of Christmas at the Burrow, breakfast and gifts and such, Harry disappeared with Ron leaving Hermione alone downstairs. Fred and George also trooped up the stairs deep in discussion, looking too serious to be disturbed, so I turned to the only two left. Hermione and Ginny. 'I suppose we're the leftovers, then,' I laughed. Hermione scowled at this, glancing up the stairs. It was clear she felt left out, but what did one expect when spending time with mainly boys that didn't always want to talk with girls? I knew better than that at least, and had forged some female friendships over the years.

'What did I expect?' Ginny sighed. 'It's always me!'

'That's not true, Ginny!' Hermione protested kindly, knowing it was a lie.

'It is so! You normally go with Ron and Harry, Kal goes with Fred and George, and I'm left all alone!' Ginny whined back to us. I couldn't help but feel bad for excluding the poor girl from everything so badly: she was like a sister to me sometimes, so I forgot that she might also want to be my friend. Plus the three year age bridge kind of made things harder. With Hermione not as much, since she was a year older than little Ginny and much more intelligent and mature than I was anyway. Really I would not be surprised if Hermione considered it a chore to be around someone as immature as ME, instead of vice versa.

'We're sorry, Gin, why don't we go to your room?' I offered with my warmest smile in her direction.

'Alright,' she nodded eagerly and led us up some stairs to her room that was by shared like the other rooms. Perks of being the only female in a family full of brothers.

'How's Second year going or you?' I asked once we were comfortably settled.

'Great! I made some new friends at least, some girls in my dormitory are nice.'

'It would all seem very boring after last year, wouldn't it? What with you being possessed by Mini Voldemort and entering the Chamber of Secrets and being rescued by THE Harry Potter, a normal year must feel so drab!' I joked, earning a chuckle from Guinea but a dark look from Hermione.

'You know the boys have been talking a lot about... That man?' Hermione nudged me knowingly.

Ginny gave us both a confused look. 'What? Which man?'

'No man!' I said quickly. No way would I bring more people into this Sirius Black nonsense. Not sweet Ginny, she had a hard enough year last year already, she did not need more drama. Ginny should be having twelve year old drama, like her crush on Harry and her mediocre grades and getting on the Quidditch team when she gets older. Not Voldemort and dead people and murderers. 'She's talking about the new Professor that Harry and Ron are basically in love with.'

'Lupin?' Ginny furrowed her brow. 'He's pretty good. Why won't they stop talking about him?'

'Because - because he told of Professor Snape the other day!' Hermione blurted out suddenly. It was actually a pretty convincing lie on Grangers part.

'Oh,' Ginny replied, 'what do you want to do?'

I looked out into the snow. The fluffy, white snow that looked perfect for sculpting and making snowmen...

There is an idea!

'We could play in the snow!' I shouted.

'Yes!' Ginny bolted upright and began putting on her snow gear before the word was even out of her mouth. Her enthusiasm was really great sometimes, you just couldn't dislike the girl unless there was something seriously wrong with you. Guess that accounted for her newfound popularity in school amongst younger students. 'Come on Hermione!'

'Oh, I don't know,' she pursed her lips in thought, looking remarkably like Nrs. Weasley as she did so, 'I don't have a proper coat for such snow.'

'Then wear your sweater under the coat!' I protested. 'Please Hermione? It will be no fun with only two people!'

'Get the twins,' Hermione suggested.

'This is an invite only thing,' Ginny piped up from where she stood, ready to get out, 'get your stuff on, we're going.'

OoOoOoOoOo

Surely enough, it was a heated snow battle half an hour later. Every woman or herself style, snow was flying everywhere, my face was so wet and cold I could hardly see. I took a moment to wipe the frost from my cheek, out of my vision. Hermione had gotten the worst of it. Being the buzzkill she was, she had only tried to hide in vain and barely threw any at all, so she was pelted in sludgy snow. It was mostly Ginny and I going at it with the determination of gladiators, except gladiators hardly laughed. And that was all we had been doing for thirty minutes straight.

A misfired snowball from my hands hit the window on Fred and George's room, I gasped as a face appeared in the window. One of the twins, I couldn't tell which one from this distant. Heck, I didn't know which Weasley was Ginny from this distance!

'Fred!' The twin (I guess George) hollered as his eyes widened with realization. 'The girls are having a snowball fight WITHOUT US!'

'But we're the life of the party!' A voice shouted from out of my view. 'Move,' he shoved George from the window to peek over at our pink, grinning faces. A delighted expression crossed his face. 'You traitors! Oi, we're coming down, Kal! Be afraid!' Then he disappeared.

'Run!' Hermione giggled, trying to retreat, but I held her back, seeing the devilish look in Ginny's eyes. That's why I loved this girl so much. Not only did she remind me of the twins sometimes, but she also had a wild streak completely her own, probably developed quite a bit by being around me so much.

'No,' Ginny cackled evilly. 'We're going to stay and fight.'

I put my hand in the middle of the three of us. They all added theirs to the pile happily and looked to me to say the battle cry, so I did. 'FOR JUSTICE!'

'FOR JUSTICE!' They echoed.

'FOR HONOUR!'

'FOR HONOUR!' They once again echoed.

'FOR PROVING US GIRLS CAN KICK THOSE TWIN'S SORRY ARSES ANY DAY!'

'FOR PROVING US GIRLS CAN KICK THOSE TWIN'S SORRY ARSES ANY DAY!' The two girls giddily screamed after me, running into battle, even Hermione. I guess we were finally getting to her.

Our screams could be heard across the never ending stretch of snow coated land.

Then the boys came out, followed by... Arthur? Really? Those blasted twins had gotten their father involved in this?!

That traitor.

'Be ready to taste failure, Potter!' Fred hollered at me from their spot across from us.

'Like I don't smell it coming off of you every day!' I trash talked back, hearing a snicker from George, who was almost completely concealed behind Fred. The only thing I could see was his uncovered red hair against the pristine white of the snow. Fred was wearing a hat.

'Maybe I should leave you alone! Goodness knows you'll hear enough about it once you lose!' He taunted.

I smirked. You did not want to go in a battle of wit against me, ever. Period, exclamation mark. 'I won't be able to hear ANYTHING over the sound of your team sobbing when you LOSE!' Hermione split a small smile, Ginny cackled with delight like a little devil from behind me.

'ENOUGH! Let's show them who's boss!' Fred shouted to Mr. Weasley and his twin brother. How odd to see Fred yelling at Mr. Weasley instead of the opposite way around.

It was a bloodthirsty battle. I scrambled to make acceptable snowballs, as did Ginny and even Hermione, who was flat out done with hiding after being made fun of by them. Her inner beast really came out. Amazing it was, she actually had stellar aim. I felt like they were trying hard to get me in the face, as I kept dodging face hits, and I seemed to be getting more than any of the others, though Ginny was a close second. Her own father didn't dare hit her with something, and he had never had a close relationship with Hermione, so he focused on hitting me, who he knew wouldn't tell his wife. Maybe I should surprise him this once...

Nah. That would be wussy.

Arthur was the first to fall after we all took a huddle and made a strategy. Pick them off one at a time, get the weak link out first, otherwise know as Gin's dad. She was a lot of help, as she knew her father better than any of us: he fell after we pelted him with a bunch of icy delights and stayed down all through our victory cry, before he got up and ran into the house screaming his retaliation. What a delightful sight to hold against the Weasley family for the rest of time.

George fell next. Hermione seemed especially determined for that one, even going so far as to dump snow clean down his jacket. Through his cries of, "MERLIN!" and "BLASTED BLOODY GIRL" and some other colourful new words he taught Ginny right then that earned a: "GEORGE WEASLEY" from inside the house, he also ran into safety with his father to an awaiting scolding mother.

'Oi! Cowards!' Fred shouted after the lot of them. Then, he looked at us almost fearfully. Oh, how I would hold this above his head for the rest of my life! 'I suppose this means you win?'

We ambushed him, shoving the git into the snow and shouting joyfully until the adults and Mr. Weasley came outside to bring us in.

OoOoOoOoOo

'I still cannot believe we got beat by a group of little girls,' Fred grumbled.

'And me.' I corrected. He just swore at me, the sore loser that he was. 'Hey, don't get like that! It was just a game!'

'It wasn't even my fault we lost!' He grumbled moodily. I raised an eyebrow at George wonderingly, who shook his head, just as perplexed as I was. Stupid Fred mood swings.

'When you grow up, call me back up here,' I gave a pointed look at Fred to ensure that he knew I was referring to him and him alone. I swept out of the room, hearing the sweet sound of George beginning his own reprimanding of his brother.

OoOoOoOoOo

I told the twins the full story of the sweater later on once Fred had gotten or his heartbreaking defeat. They sat quietly as I explained everything in the letter, once tearing up but never actually crying again. I was done with that for today, at least.

'Wow.' George said once I was finished. 'So you knew EVERY SINGLE MARAUDER? As a baby?'

'I suppose,' I felt utterly embarrassed and trapped. I just wished everyone would stop putting me in the spotlight all the time, like I wanted the acknowledgment that I did not.

'My respect for that man is growing daily!' He grinned to himself. 'Do you think it would be weird if I asked him for an autograph?'

'Please don't.' I groaned.

'Maybe even write some fan mail!' Squealed George.

'You're impossible,' I laughed, slamming the door behind me to write to Abigail quickly about my Christmas, including what I had learned about our Professor, trusting she wouldn't say anything about it.

A/N:

Hey all! Glad to see ANYONE has stuck with this story, as I've recently been added to an awesome community with Fred/George fans should check out! You can ins it in communities if that wasn't where you found this.

Also, thanks to anyone who faved, followed or reviewed! I really appreciate everything! PLEASE REVIEW, more reviews give me more inspiration and that means faster updates!

Stay awesome,

Maria


	9. Chapter 9

All too soon, holidays ended and we were forced to go back to school. Was it child labour or something?

Not that I didn't love Hogwarts and think it was the happiest place on earth to me (screw Disneyland) but the constant O.W.L pressure was getting to me. I wasn't typically a bookworm or particularly involved in my school work, but I did get good grades most of the time and would like to keep it that way. Just imagine what poor Hermione would be going through when she got to Fifth Year, being the perfectionist she was! She'd kill herself.

As always, the Weasley family was great. Percy was his usual snobby self, if a little wary around me since I had asked for his help, the twins were their usual awesome selves, just don't tell them that or they'd never leave me alone about it. Ron was Ron, so we all had to scramble to get our food at the meal, Ginny was unusually sociable and nice. He still hasn't gotten over that inexplicable crush on my brother.

I personally thought he would be intelligent to be more friendly to the girl: in a few years she'd be beautiful and popular and wanted, and he would be damned lucky to have someone as epic as Ginny, being the blind idiot he could be. (Not blind meaning his glasses, I mean oblivious to things going on around him.)

I sighed as I pulled my trunk after me to get to the Station, ignoring all attempts at conversation Percy tried. He just didn't like being the obvious loner in the group, even with TWO guests. Ginny, Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked together, the latter three deep in conversation, leaving a gap for Ginny in their usual threesome. Fred, George, and I all spoke together in hushed tones nervously shooting glances at Molly. If she overheard about our new inventions...

It was likely I looked to be the most obvious option for Percy. Closest to his age, besides Fred and George, who were his brothers so they didn't count.

How sad. He didn't have many friends at Hogwarts either, he actually spoke quite a bit to Moaning Myrtle, lonely lonely boy. I ALMOST felt bad for him.

We stood outside the train with the family and said our goodbye's one at a time to each other. Fred and George made a big show of saying goodbye to each other even though they would be in the same school AND compartment.

'Goodbye dear,' Molly said tearily, gathering me in a big hug, 'keep the boys in check, will you?'

'No!' I said, terrified. 'Don't you even TRY sticking me with that job! Give it to-to Hermione!'

'Don't make Kal go boring,' George moaned at her, 'we won't forgive you if you do!'

'Never,' agreed Fred, 'anyway, we cannot be "controlled"-'

'Nobody can maintain such a feat-' George added.

'If somebody did Dumbledore would arrange a medal of honour to be given-'

'To them for doing the impossible.'

'Oh boys,' Molly wailed, crushing them in her hug. Really, it was as if she were afraid we would never be back, although with all the Sirius Black nonsense, I suppose I could be never coming back. I firmly shook the thought from my head.

'Just… don't cause any trouble.' Arthur winked at me as if saying, "I know you will anyway."

'No promises,' all three of us said in unison, making Mrs. Weasley sob harder and Ron groan.

'Not a third one!' He exclaimed.

'We are not triplets-' Fred began.

'No no, I'm much better looking than both Fred and Kalmine-' George grinned wickidly.

'I don't agree-' I argued.

'-with that, you aren't more attractive than Kal and I!' Fred finished for the three of us and I nodded to back him up.

George, though, looked like Christmas had come again. Rubbing his hands together, he looked us both in the eyes deviously. 'So you admit you find Kalmine attractive then?'

My jaw dropped with Fred's as we realized just how clever his little trap had been. Judging by the look on Fred's face, George had been hounding him about fancying me as much as he had hounded me about fancying Fred. Which I sort of did but i would never tell GEORGE of all people, the one sure person that would go straight to Fred. 'What?' He sputtered intelligently in response. 'I-no-I said-said that-meant-'

I wiped a pretend year away from my eye. 'Are you saying you find me ugly?'

'No!' He protested, turning a shade of pink that was clashing quite horribly with his hair.

'Then you're saying you find her attractive?'

'NO!' He almost shouted, drawing even more attention to us. 'I meant-oh dragon shite-I meant that…' he paused to think or a moment. '…Kalmine is a very attractive person on her own, but a person can be attractive without having to fancy them!' He nodded, deeming this an appropriate response. The pink quickly faded from his freckled cheeks and face, leaving him the Fred I knew but sweatier. Also, I was the one blushing now. Attractive? Really?

'I never implied that you fancied anyone, Fred.' George said gleefully. Boom! The pink was back, like turning on a light switch. Incredible, really, until I thought over the words and suddenly wanted to stop playing this stupid game. Now it was embarrassing me as well. Molly looked simply over the moon watching us, Ginny also, Hermione looked quite amused, Harry like everyone else looked absolutely elated, Ron to my great offense was sporting a look of disgust, Percy of disdain but what would one expect from "an intellectual giant such as himself", Arthur looked happy and mildly interested, as if we were a television program he watched every once in a while.

George looked downright joyous, not the creepy kind Molly was, in the motherly way, but in the way that meant he was excited.

Git.

I would kill him for this later. If Fred didn't beat me to it, he was looking utterly enraged.

'Alright, it's time to board the train!' Molly announced, pulling me into one last hug before shoving me in the direction of the Steam Engine. Yes Mrs. Weasley; give me mileage by pushing me. She was really something special, but was a fantastic person that I loved as a sort of mother figure either way.

We boarded, the silence settling in thick between Fred and I. Stupid George. Why did he have to ruin it? We quickly picked out a compartment where I shoed George to get a window seat, then turned to stare out the window at the station. Arthur Weasley was scanning the windows, he waved when he saw me and I waved slightly back, smiling.

As we started going, the door opened and Abigail stood before us. She looked well, all though her complexion had become undeniably paler for some reason. Almost sickly. I dismissed it, as it was probably just the cold.

'Abi!' I hugged her and sat her down next to me rapidly, ensuring Katie wouldn't sit here. We were still a bit awkward around each other, even when she told me she didn't like Fred and he didn't like her, so I shouldn't be jealous. If anything it made things worse, even if I did like knowing it. This had better stop soon, I COULDN'T lose a friend over this stupidity. 'How was your Christmas?'

'Fine,' she said distractedly.

'Really?' I demanded. She didn't look fine, she looked more and more sick and disturbed. I looked at her rawly, she nodded to say she'd tell me later, when the boys weren't around. I hoped they didn't notice, but if one did they kept it quiet. Next came Katie, who waltzed right in and, surprisingly, plopped down VERY close to George. Interesting.

'''Lo boys,' she greeted flirtatiously, looking at George. 'Have a happy Christmas?'

'We did,' George smiled back at her. Okay, I was going to get to the bottom of this when we got back to our room. Did they have a thing going on? I hoped so, then I wouldn't have to worry about -whatever- it was that bothered me about Katie and Fred dating, since Fred would never date George's ex. Or his girlfriend. If they got married I had better be a bridesmaid!

OoOoOoOoOo

Everywhere I went, I felt a presence. Not the sort thy meant somebody was near me, but the kind that made me feel uneasy and watched: hunted almost. If I stepped into the halls, I could feel a pair of eyes observing me. The scuffle of a shoe would send me flying back to my room. Pretty sure it was just paranoia…but there was SOMEBODY WATCHING ME. That I was sure of.

When I asked Fred about it, he said I was just being dramatic, which was stupid of him, since I was almost never dramatic. Technically untrue, but I was only truthfully dramatic, because drama found me! Not vice versa.

To make things worse, I had double potions. In the morning. THE MORNING! It should have been illegal, but the Ministry was yet to reply to Abigail and my five letters. Shame.

Snape's dungeon classroom: the perfect place to shake off my recent bad mood and my paranoia. Not.

I stumbled in right in the knock of time, and slid down next to Abigail, only two seconds before Snape did in his cloud of black cape and scary glory. From what my brother and his friends said, he was a million times worse with Harry, but for some reason he liked me, as much as Snape could. 'Today we will be brewing Elixir to Induce Euphoria.' He saw the blank stares of the class staring back at him, all of us thinking: "And…?" 'What are you brain dead children waiting for? A personal invitation?' He snapped, causing a panic amongst us all. Angelina looked ready to shit her pants.

Abigail quickly ran to get the ingredients while I readied the cauldron. When she returned, arms full of Shrivelfigs and Sopophorous beans and the likes, I quickly got to preparing it. After all, I was the proud Potion Whizz. Maybe only so-so at Transfiguration, and only good at DADA but I was GREAT at potions, so I held onto it, no matter how the Twins and Lee teased me for being a "regular Slytherin" and "Snape's teachers pet."

Abigail and I worked amazingly as a Potion duo. She sliced, I juiced and tended the cauldron, altogether it worked. Once it finished brewing, it came out as close to perfect as I would ever achieve. Snape approached us, black eyes scouring over me with an odd sort of…pride…almost in his eyes. Approval. That was what it was.

'Very good, Ms. Potter.' He said before sweeping off to see Adam Montague's potion.

OoOoOoOoOo

I was returning from detention I had gotten with McGonagall (I was not allowed to set free the pixies we were Transfiguring, apparently. But they had just looked so scared!) and was exhausted. I had better not be caught out of bed because of this.

The feeling…it was twice as eerie as usual when I KNEW I was alone. Not a random passerby like I had often assured myself, but a distinct someone. I sped up a little.

The squeak of a shoe on the tile floor sent me running towards Gryffindor tower. Squeaks echoed out behind me. Someone was following me!

I had almost made it, I was RIGHT there as I felt a body much bigger than mine settle on top of me from behind.

Spinning around on the ground o face my attacker, I caught my breath and screamed without thinking. My attacker was the woman who had captured me in Hogsmeade earlier. Now that I was finally face to face with my stalker/previous attacker. She looked absolutely horrific. With a jagged scar running from her mid forehead to her chin, trailing down the side of her face, it was a good thing that it was there to draw attention away from her black eyes. Her black as a bottomless pit lizard eyes. A crown of dirty black hair sat on top of her head and her pale skin GLOWED next to it. Her skin was rough.

Just as scary as any storybook murderer, which she probably was.

'Stop screaming, girlie,' she hissed in my face, 'or I will slit your throat.'

'Wh-what do y-you want?' I shouted weakly, lacking the intended spirit. My brain was working on overdrive, trying to understand, but nothing came to mind in my current jumble of thoughts. She was cutting of my air circulation, her hand was pressed into my throat! I kicked and thrashed to shake it loose, succeeding only in jostling it a tiny bit. Good enough to breath at least.

'I want you not to do it.'

'Do what?' What had I done?

'It! In the future there will be a thing to do, and it involves me. If you do it, I will know, and you will die, understood?'

'Y-yes,' I lied, tears streaming down my cheeks. God, I was so, so incredibly scared. Would she just let me go?

'Good.' She released me, and kicked me in the ribs for good measure, not reacting to the sickening crack that echoed out around me. My own scream of pain was heard throughout the castle. My middle was on fire, it ached, I couldn't move. She had broken at least one bone in my ribcage. It was a blinding white pain. 'Remember it.'

Then she was gone, leaving me in my haze of pain and fear, the sound of many distant footsteps bouncing around in my skull.

 ** _A/N:_**

 ** _Hey all! It's really good to finally be able to update, but I've just been so so busy lately that I couldn't put it out until after it was finished! Mostly boring (and horrible) things that I really don't have time to get into on Fanfiction. Net! :)_**

 ** _Anyway, thank you to EVERYONE who follows this, faced it, or reviews it, and to the people who have done more than one! I love every single one of you. I wish I could crawl through my phone screen and give you a hug, but sadly that technology is still developing. :D Not creepy._**

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 ** _Please fave, follow and REVIEW PEOPLE!_**

 ** _Stay awesome,_**

 ** _Maria_**


	10. Chapter 10

MariaGlitterKittey MariaGlitterKittey

My eyes open to a blinding white light. My first thought was: Oh Merlin, I'm dead! I'm going into a white light! Oh my gods!

Then the sound of talking flooded my ears, and filled my soul with relief. The voices were muffled and hard to hear. Why was I here? Oh yeah, the woman from earlier.

'…danger. Miss Potter is in quite a bit of trouble, you see, but to what extent I'm not sure. When she wakes I'll explain it to her personally.' Dumbledore. Why was he here? And who was he speaking to.

'What kind of trouble?' Harry's voice asked from a little farther away at the same time George's voice said,

'What's she done now?'

'Nothing that she has done really. More something she will do.'

'Excuse me?' Harry said, sounding confused, I wasn't quite following either.

'You see, I have reason to believe the person who attacked her wasn't from our time. She was from the future.'

That was all I needed to freak out completely. A time traveller was out to kill me for some reason, and I didn't know for what because I hadn't done it yet! Geez.

Normal fifteen year old girls didn't have to deal with this.

I tried to say, 'I'm awake,' but something was stuck in my throat. It was swollen or something. So the sound came out like a moan, or a cough. Nonetheless, everyone heard and ran to my hospital bed quickly.

Arms strangled me, someone's elbow was in my face, and there must have been eight different people on top of me. Eight?

'I believe that is an uncomfortable position for in her current condition,' Dumbledore cheerfully said, I wanted to hug the man. Bad thing to think about your friends, but they were honestly sort of suffocating me.

I pulled back to look at the people who were now crowded around me tightly, faces either grim, like Lee's, or happy, like Ginny's.

Fred, George, Lee, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Katie, Fionina, and Abigail were crowded around me. I had been wrong, it was more than eight people.

'So,' I said to Dumbledore, 'explain?'

'Certainly. Would you like for your friends to hear it as well?' He nodded at the gang. They looked at me pleadingly. Fred even held his hands in a pleading gesture and put on his best puppy dog face (which looked hilarious by the way), and Lee mouthed "I'll be your best friend." How could I say no?

'Sure, whatever. I just want to know.'

'Let me begin then.' Dumbledore cleared his throat. The room became tense as everybody leaned forward, as if afraid of not hearing it, though of course we would. 'I am sure you know of the LeStrange family?' We nodded, or most of us did. Bellatrix LeStrange was locked up in Azkaban and her husband, Rodolphus, was a former Death Eater.

'Rodolphus has a brother, Repner LeStrange, who is not as well known among Voldemort's followers. He had always been the lesser of the family. I just had an interesting visit with the Minister in the future, and he informed me that one day the LeStrange family will fall.'

We let this sink in. 'So?'

'That woman, Nillixa LeStrange, was his daughter, you see. And she was less than pleased about her sudden ridicule, her life in ruins, for being a LeStrange. See, that family fell, evidently, because Rodolphus was exposed or being a Death Eater and was captured and turned in to the Ministry at some point in time. The entire family was scorned and chased out of England after he was put in Azkaban.'

'I still do not understand what this has to do with me.' I replied uneasily. Why was this all relevant?

'My dear, you were the one to capture and turn in Rodolphus.'

This sunk in quickly. I had captured a death eater? Cool! But also bad, for my own safety. This woman was out for revenge, supposedly, and there was nothing I would be able to do. Crap. 'M-Merlin,' I whispered into the air, hearing the audible gasps around me. George (or was it Fred's?) gasp was the loudest, in my ear almost. I didn't care.

'This woman found a time turner in her Aunt Bellatrix's trunk in her time, while emptying it out, and decided to take action to "right" her family history. This is why it is so dangerous for you. She is still on the loose. Until we find her, I am afraid you won't be going anywhere alone.' Dumbledore concluded, then he sat down and looked at me with concern. 'Are you alright?'

'I am f-fine,' I said after a while,' just... Is there anything I should do?'

'No. Just steer clear of any suspicious things and never be alone, for she would probably stop at nothing to save herself. Harming you…or worse.' The unspoken threat that came not from him but from a crazy time traveller hung above us all. Or worse. Or death.

'I will let you be,' Dumbledore nodded as he started towards the door, 'you have undoubtedly had a stressful day.'

What? No! Since when is almost being killed by a time traveller who wants to right her family history by killing me so I never get the chance to do what it is I've done that I have not even done yet stressful? Also, I'm not sarcastic. At. All. Or bitter. Why do these sort of things only happen to me? I wondered sometimes.

Abigail approached my hospital bed where I had spent quite a bit of time in the past few years of my school career: ever since Harry started at Hogwarts I've been busy fighting Voldemort and Death Eaters, or uncovering dangerous artifacts and stuff like that. What a talent it was! 'Kal, you're the only one I know who could get herself into such a mess.'

'I know it,' I replied, my voice significantly lacking the usual sass in it.

'Do you have something against having a normal year?' George demanded teasingly. I glared.

'As if I want any of this to happen! I didn't exactly phone the future and ask for them to send a crazy lady, y'know!'

'We know,' Abigail soothed, 'you don't like getting in trouble as much as you do.'

'Kal loves getting in trouble, just not this specific kind of it,' Fred told her teasingly, 'maybe you should just concentrate on jokes for the time being instead of crazy time travel conspiracies.'

'Good advice,' I said.

'Seriously, be careful.' Fred pleaded with me, making my heart give a painful little squeeze. 'I don't want to lose my favourite pranking buddy!'

George let out an indignant yelp, I giggled. 'OI! WHAT AM I, CHOPPED TROLL LIVER?'

Everybody let out a tiny laugh, except George, who looked honestly vexed, the silly git! As if I could ever replace the legendary George Weasley. 'Alright, everyone out.' I demanded. 'I must rest or I will collapse out of weariness. Seriously, get out.'

With a bit of grumbling and some colourful words, the twins, collective Weasleys, and Lee exited, followed by a less reluctant Fionina and Abigail and Katie, and ten Hermione, leaving only Harry. 'Are you alright?' He asked in a whisper.

'Fine.' I answered with my most optimistic grin, knowing he needed it. Poor Harry, if he lost his only family left…I could only imagine what I'd be leaving behind. A mess, that's what. I knew because it is what I would be if Harry were to...to die. The thought itself was horrific. Even worse, it was likely. 'Just a little sore.'

'You really need to keep your head down,' he sighed a tiny bit and gripped my hand tightly, 'you'll get in big trouble someday.'

'I think at broom has already flown.' I scoffed under my breath. It hurt to do so. 'And you of all people know how hard it is to "keep my head down."'

'I guess. Just…just try, okay? I can't be there all the time.'

'Harry. You don't need to be, it should be the other way around if anything. I'm older, I'm the one that needs to be around for you, understand?' I put my hands on his shoulders gently, arms aching (what the hell had they given me?) and turned him to face me. He was ashamed for something that he had no power over. 'I'm serious. YOU don't need to look out for ME.'

But even as he nodded and shut the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts, I knew he still would, my words wouldn't stop him. My little brother was loyal, and defensive end, and idiotically noble, and protective towards those around him. It was one of my favourite things about him, but also the thing that sated me the most.

Every time a curtain rustled or a step sounded somewhere far off, I imagined it was "the lunatic" which was my new nickname for the woman, coming to get me. More than once I took my wand out from where it rested in my robe and aimed it at the door lest somebody burst in to get me. Paranoia did funny things to people.

It turned out I hadn't been seriously hurt. My rib had indeed broken, and my neck was bruised in a not so elegant design, but I would be fine. All it took was a restless night of shoving regrowing potion down my throat.

By morning, I was free from the cage and allowed to once more roam in the sunlight. I wanted to run onto the Quidditch field and kiss it, say sorry for missing practice, just normal activities on a nice day such as today. Sadly, I had (shiver) classes. The horror.

My friends had stuck to their promise of not letting me go ANYWHERE alone. It was all for my own good of course, but it was incredibly aggravating to go to the bathroom and hear "Are you done yet?" From Abigail, Katy, or Fionina, who would undoubtedly be waiting outside the toilet stall. Goodbye, privacy.

It was when I was walking to the library with Fred to study, yes he had protested at first but I had threatened him by saying if he failed out of Hogwarts, his mother would have a thing or two to him. Then he had been all for the idea. 'Ron, Hermione, and your brother are really torn up about Buckbeak.'

I was confused. 'What about Buckbeak? The Hippogriff?'

'They had a class when Hagrid taught them about Hippogriffs and he used Buckbeak as his example, and Harry was chosen to go up and pet him and stuff, but he ended up riding him.'

'So?' I asked.

'Let me get to that!' Fred scolded me. 'And Draco Malfoy, the annoying git, got all jealous and called him some names, and Buckbeak lashed out a cut him a tiny bit, it was well deserved I'm sure, and now his father demanded that Buckbeak be put to Death!'

That horrible boy. Draco had never meant that much to me besides the fact that he was an issue, a pest, a parasite. Of course I had my own reasons to dislike the blond brat, but it was mostly because of what he did to Harry and how he treated the Weasleys. We had never really associated much, but I had the upper hand when we did. I viewed him as a child, young and foolish, and he knew it, so he would get angry and flustered. Hilarious I watch. But this was something else. Leave the animals out of this, Malfoy. 'That little!' I exclaimed angrily. 'We are going to give him a piece of our minds!'

'I'm guessing you don't mean have a chat?' Fred grinned wickedly. That meant business.

'Nope. Meet me in the Common Room tonight. And bring your colour bombs.'

OoOoOoOoOo

Tonight would be stupid, risky, and immature. I could already tell it was going to be purely amazing.

Of course, Fred had invited George along to our pranking escapade on the little Barbie (that was my new nickname for Draco) even though I didn't really want George to come. The second I realized it I felt bad. Why couldn't I have fancied somebody less complicated and terrifying? Like Voldemort. (Sarcasm alert.) George had mysteriously "fallen sick" tonight, leaving Fred and I alone. Why did I have the feeling he was not really sick? I rolled my eyes at his obviousness.

'Got the paint bombs?' I asked in greeting, crouching behind a sofa with the Marauders Map.

'Yep. Got the sign?' Fred leaned in to look at something on the map. I took out the sign as evidence. 'Perfect. Let's go.'

We snuck out way down the hallways of the castle, terrifying at night, all the while careful to duck out of the way of anyone coming. My dad was the best! The thought saddened me. The best shouldn't have to die.

We eventually crouched in the Slytherin hallway. Now came the tricky part. Getting in. 'What did Lee say the password was?' Fred scrunched up his brow in concentration, he had an awful memory.

Lee had found out by asking his cousin in Ravenclaw to ask her Slytherin friend. Quite a complicated system but we had our answer. 'Snake scale.'

'How unoriginal.' Fred scoffed quietly. 'I would expect nothing less from Slytherin's.'

I turned to the wall and said in my clearest voice: 'Snake Scale.' The wall slid open to reveal the Snake common room. I had only been inside once before. That was when I had snuck in to see it for myself. Lee's descriptions of his cousins friends mind was just too vague and twisted from the truth o satisfy my burning curiosity.

We tip-toes up to the boys dormitories, Fred leading the way. There was a dilemma when we reached the actual staircase. 'How do I get up there? I'm a girl!'

'I can stun it.' Free offered, pointing his wand. 'Stupi-'

'No!' I hissed and forced his wand hand down. 'You git, if you cast a spell on anything in here the professors will be able to trace it to your wand!'

'Oh,' he said sheepishly. 'Then I'm out of ideas.'

Why hasn't we thought this far? This was so stupid, why did they have to be so strict about this anyway-

'I got it!' He whispered. I waited impatiently to hear the brilliant idea. 'I'll carry you!'

'No!' I protested as a reflex, nobody was picking me up! What if I was heavy or we fell? I would die of embarrassment.

'C'mon, Kal! I can do it, I'm very strong you know. And it's the only way!' He pleaded, bright blue Weasley eyes looking sadly into my own Potter green ones. No, must-resist-puppy dog face…

'Oh fine!' I grumbled, half giddy with excitement and nervousness, half terrified and angry. With who I didn't know.

After one last check of the map to ensure we weren't about to be caught, Fred grabbed me by the waist and hoisted me into his arms, bridal style. Had I suddenly become weightless? Because that was what he was acting like, it was as if I were a fester and it was NO PROBLEM to carry me, though I weighed roughly 115. Not THAT small, just slim. Right?

I guess I really don't give the bloke enough credit for that beater job. Must do the body good.

When he set me down with a flourish and a bow, I blushed a deep red, quite like his hair, trying not to show how much I had actually enjoyed the little ride up. I. Hated. Hormones. 'Why, Ms. Potter, you are blushing? Is it being in the presence of such a handsome gentleman that makes you flushed?' He teased relentlessly, making me feel like pummelling him. Now I doubted that I could, compared to how easy it had been to just pluck me off the ground for him.

'Yes, just I can't appear to find him, so I'm here with you.' I told him smugly before dragging him along the corridors until we reached what must have been Barbie's room. It had green lining: silk, on the handle. Of course Dorko couldn't have a normal door like everyone else. I cringed as I realized how much that fabric must have cost, more than the Weasley family could ever even dream of owning, as Fred fingered it thoughtfully.

'Huh,' was all he said.

He took the lead again, creeping in, seeing the peaceful sleeping faces of Slytherin prays. 'You get the door, I'll knock them out.' I ran to cast Silencio on the door, to make sure nobody would hear our bomb explode. (I sounded like a terrorist. It wasn't dangerous!)

With a giggle of anticipation, I put the circular pink ball in the middle of the floor. 'Shield charms up?' I asked Fred.

'Up!'

'Care to do the honours? It is your product, after all.' I nudged him in the direction of the circle.

'Of course. I'd like to thank George for helping me, even though I'm the better twin as we all know, and myself, for being a genius, and my sister Ginny-' he began an award acceptance speech, cut short by my cuff to the head.

'Get on with it before someone finds us!' I scolded. Fred nodded and pressed the button.

The room exploded in pink smoke. It was everywhere, I couldn't see anything beyond my bubble of protection. So satisfying to see this. When the smoke cleared, the only spots not completely and totally pink were the spots Fred and I had stood with our shields up.

 **A/N:**

 **Hey all!**

 **Another chapter out, sorry it took so long, and on a cliffhanger no less. I want to murder me too, but I sort of want to live so... No. Anyway, not too proud of this chapter, I think I sucked with the delivering news part of it. Tell me what you think? If you agree, any tips? Thanks, I know there are a lot of awesome writers on here. By the way, THANK YOU ALL for reading this story, something I thought would be a huge bomb and a waste of time by the second chapter but here I am… still somewhat afloat! So thank you all for that.**

 **News: I have a Quotev account now. I'm thinking of adding this there, and I have another story on the works on there, so if you want to check it out, here's the link at the top.**

 **I love all the reviews I'm getting. If you haven't reviewed yet and want to… don't hold back! I want to know what everybody thinks of this.**

 **FAVE, FOLLOW, LIVE LIFE, REVIEW!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Maria**


	11. Chapter 11

The first thing people did when I entered the Great Hall was whisper. Magical or not, this was a school like any other. (If other schools had, you know, elves and moving trees and pet owls.) Meaning gossip travelled FAST. Especially big things, like this, fortunately I was used to it, being involved in almost all the drama every year. "Harry Potter and his friends did so-and-so! His sister was there!" Such like this. However, it was not often I was the ONLY center of attention. Usually there were either the twins and Lee involved (when it was gossip about the latest prank), Abigail or Fionina (if it was about classes or social shite) or Harry, Ron, and Hermione if it was about something my brother had done. Virtually never by myself.

I found myself wanting the attention off of me, and quickly. It made it easier to deal if others were enduring it as well. Or at least I found.

The second thing that happened was Draco Malfoy, the Barbie doll himself, came stomping in. Pink from head to toe.

Everyone took a second to process it before bursting into laughter, quieting down fearfully (Barbie-phobia), or shooting knowing glances at the twins and I. They did know our handiwork, I'd give them that. 'Mr. Malfoy!' Professor McGonagall exclaimed on seeing him. 'What has happened to you?!'

'Some rubbish-' I snorted, '-broke into MY PERSONAL ROOM and put some sort of colouring device inside of it!' He waved his hands dramatically. 'My entire room! Pink! PINK! Wait until my FATHER hears about this!'

McGonagall waved her wand and he was cleared of the pink, though his hair remained tinged a sick orange-ish colour still, as he huffed to his seat, glaring at me. The git had at least the brains to know who had tricked him. Minnie turned back to the table, shooting Fred and I disapproving glancing as she went. Though once her head had turned, I could have sworn I saw a slight smirk on her face. Minnie must not be a fan of Malfoy either.

I glanced over at Fred, glad the attention was diverted from me to me AND the twins. He shot me a thumbs up under the table, and I giggled behind my hand.

'Oi, lovebirds, fill me in!' Said George, plopping down in a seat.

I felt heat creeping into my neck. SHUT UP GEORGE. Fred, though, looked completely unfrazzled. 'We set off colour bombs.'

'I get that part, twit. I expect lavish details of what I miss, though.'

'We had to break into the boys dormitories, so I had to carry Kal up!' Fred announced, now looking quite as embarrassed as I. George stared at the two of us knowingly.

'Look at you two crazy kids! Going on dates-'

'George, I'm sorry to say that you've lost your mind.' I said sarcastically. 'Also, wouldn't you know if we were secretly dating? Twin telepathy?'

'We do not have telepathy-!' George.

'-No. We are two very different and-' Fred.

'Independent people, don't let the-'

'-Fact that we finish each other's sentences fool you, Kal. We are-'

'-indeed very unique.'

I looked between them, awed and confused. Poor Lee! Was this how it was when we all talked in unison?! 'You two are freaks of nature.'

'Since when is incredibly charming and handsome the same thing as being a freak of nature?' Fred joked, knocking his leg with mine.

'Never was, never will be.'

'Wounded!' George exclaimed. 'Why must you insist on hurting us so?'

'Apologies.' I replied in my best proper voice. 'Look, I got to get to class.' Sadly, I did not have all my classes with the twins. I did not have Astronomy with them, for example.

Astronomy blew as usual.

I was glad to be going, though so I wouldn't have to endure all the staring and pointing as I passed in the Great Hall. Or the murderous glares Draco and his group were shouting me. Worthy of Voldemort himself, I would say.

OoOoOoOoOo

I didn't get to see the twins properly for the rest of the day, only rushed conversation in between lessons. So it was with great relief that I made my way up to Gryffindor tower after a detention with the Astronomy professor for pointing out new, exciting consolations. Apparently, seeing a group of stars shaped somewhat like a chocolate frog and naming it "Frogius Delicicus" was not something to put on a star map. Whoops.

All I had wanted was a nice, normal, relaxing, NON TERRIFYING evening. Of course I couldn't have one just this once. I heard Ron Weasley's screams before I hit the tower.

Beginning to run, I collided with a figure holding a knife. Oh no. Not two attackers in two days! My throat was stuck, I couldn't even scream, just backed away on the floor. I could hardly see the figure in the darkness, just that it was tall and it was distinctly male, based on the broad shoulders and chest. At least it wasn't the woman from the day previous.

Fear was a strong emotion in my mind. Fear and a raw instinct to survive, to get away, even if I knew it wasn't likely to escape for the second time in days.

The man dove behind a suit of armor, and pushed aside a brick that was just wide enough to create a passage that I had never known about, it wasn't even on the map! But then again, the space was hardly for by five feet. Probably an accidental hiding place of some sort, as much as I would have liked to ponder it some more, I was rudely interrupted as the man dragged me in as well.

Oh crud. This was turning out to be such a great week.

And I heard footsteps pass, shouting, calls from Harry, Abigail, Fionina, Katie, Lee and the twins. 'Kal! KALMINE? Where is she?!'

'She had detention, she might have been caught!'

'Shut UP Lee!'

The footsteps faded to nothing, so I whirled to face my attacker. Needless to say how surprised I was to be face to face with none other than Sirius Black. A yelp finally came from my throat much too late for anybody to hear, how inconvenient for me. He looked maniacal, crazed, not at all like he had in all the tapes that I had watched, and all the vague "memories" if you would even call them that. (Really they were just a mental picture of something.) Azkaban had changed this man for the worse, I could tell just by looking at his haggard, sunken face where the folds of his dirty skin his his true emotion.

The stone was gone. No escape.

A sense of dread filled me as I looked back into this horrible mans eyes, silently thinking horrible thoughts that may or may not have involved him and a sword and myself holding said sword. 'Go on then!' I prodded stupidly, fed up completely with all the drama for one year, still not as scared as I should've been. 'Kill me! Wouldn't be the first time this week someone's tried to!'

The look of realization hit his face like a freight train moving across him, his eyes softening as he looked into mine, his mouth twitching a bit, as if with a smile. But as soon as it came it was gone back to the hard face of a killer. 'Kalmine Potter?'

'Yes, I assume that's why you brought me here with a knife?'

'Wh-no-'

'Oh NO!' I feigned surprise. 'So I'm in here for no reason, am I? You meant to get my brother? What a disappointment that I'm the one that always gets detentions, then.'

He made a move as if to touch me, so without thinking, I drew my wand and blindly kicked upwards, my leg making contact with the soft flesh I recognized to be a person's gut, where all I could feel was ribs in the man, Merlin was this criminal skinny. Sirius Black leant over with a hiss of pain much like that of an animal, giving me the opportunity to jump back at the wall, which gave away as I pounded the brick with every ounce of force I possessed.

With a pant of relief I ran out onto the grounds and looked wildly around for any signs of people, not seeing anyone. It suddenly occurred to me how close to death I had come twice in just these past few days. The imaginary footsteps that pursued me made me look harder.

McGonagall was the one to finally find me. She and a group of professors, evidently searching for Black. 'Thank MERLIN you're alright child!' She grasped my boulders tightly to steer me into the great hall, where I saw the entire student body strewn about in muggle sleeping bags, packed in like tuna in a can.

When I walked in, I caused an uproar.

Everyone pointed and whispered, a few even let out appreciative shouts, the eldest Goyle fixed me with a distinctly disappointed glare. Sorry that I was not hurt… or something worse. A flash of brown and the sparkle of metal in dim light flew at me from nowhere, toppling me nearly to the ground.

'Kalmine! You scared us all, where did you go?' Harry demanded breathlessly.

'I'm fine Harry, just what-'

'Sirius Black! He tried to break into the Gryffindor Tower and hurt the Grey Lady, she's really out of sorts!'

My glance must have hardened, because Harry shook me. 'What, Kal, what?'

'I know,' I gestured at Dumbledore to meet me, which he did, and I quickly told him I had some things I needed to tell Professors and students alike so no rumours would be started.

'Very well.' He allowed me in front of the school, and I quickly elaborated to the curious and horrified people before me. Bright red Weasley hair was an odd comfort while I did so though whether it was Ron's, Fred's, or George's I didn't know nor did I care. Decidedly it wasn't Percy's. His hair was too short and too dorky to mistake for anyone but his.

Finally though, the Hall burst into whispers, the call of countless students hissing in unison in a stone, echoing room. Harry gave me a frightened look, almost pleading: "I told you to stay out of trouble, big sister." I could hear him in my skull, repeating it over and over and over until I wanted to scream out that I wanted to, so badly I wanted to.

'Obviously she's lying!' A voice called out, someone I couldn't see properly yet. 'What an attention whore!'

'Yeah!' Sneered Steven Goyle from his seat, looking me tauntingly in the eyes. 'What a stupid story.' A chorus of whispers broke out once more: a lot of the school arguing them, but the Slytherin's remaining true to their cronies and backing the two of them up. It was no secret that I was not on the best terms with the Snake house.

My blood boiled. My face reddened. But it was nothing compared to the people around me. Ron jumped out from the throng of students and stormed towards the voice, I could now see a brown head of hair that was the voice. Parkinson, of course. 'You don't insult the Potter's!' He shouted at her like the loyal git he was.

'There ARE only two of them,' said Pansy snobbily, making ME want to punch the child across the face. You will not punch those younger than you, you will not punch those younger than you, you will not-

'You horrible snake!' He sputtered, pointing his wand. The blessed boy sent a Stinging Hex at the pug girl.

Hermione ran after him the second he had done it, I could hear her scolding already reaching my ears. That girl was uptight, but my head was still trying to wrap around what Pansy had said. Attention Whore? Did the school think I was an attention whore? I was not!

'Ronald! You'll get in trouble now, you hexed a student-'

Attention found me without my prior knowledge or wish, it just seemed to. If anyone wanted to take my place they could, I would gladly step down m=from my role in the life of an orphaned teenager whose godfather is an imprisoned murderer and who constantly has to run from the Dark Lord himself. If that made me an attention whore, then it wasn't my fault that I was.

'-what were you thinking anyway? That you could just-'

I stood up angrily and looked out at the crowd, all either watching Hermione and Ron, Pansy, or me. 'Ahem!' Everybody looked to me as I cleared my throat aggressively and loudly. 'I am not an attention whore, so you be informed. I do not want any attention nor do I seek it. I simply am there at the wrong time in the wrong place under the wrong set of circumstances.' Relief washed over me when my speech sounded halfway intelligent unlike it had in my head. 'The only ATTENTION I have ever looked for was for my personal jokes and fun. Anyone who wants to be in my place right now is the TRUE attention brat, not me. Thank you.'

I then dismounted the stage trying to hold my head high, and marched over to Abigail and Lee where they stood.

'Holy Helena, Kal, are you quite sure you're alright? So many happenings in a matter of days!' She exclaimed in my ear.

'I'll be fine.' I assured the both of them, who looker rather unconvinced. 'I'm always fine.'

A:N:

Hey all! I just realized that this is the official eleventh chapter of this story so HAPPY ELEVENTH! *Blows party horn.* Some people would celebrate the tenth, but I'm weird like this. You won't find me celebrating and milestones REGULARLY, like a normal person.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to review, follow, or fave. These are the said people.

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All my Guest reviewer(s), and

Shelby, a Guest Reviewer who left her name. If you don't want your name in these lists, PM me and let me know or put it in the review if you post one. ON that note:

REVIEW please! I love getting reviews so much, they are my writing fuel people! It isn't that hard, guys. Giving you virtual hugs if you did/are going to.

Stay awesome. Live life, have fun, whatever,

Forever Maria 3


	12. Author Note (Sorry)

I am really sorry to those of you who thought this was a new chapter: but it is an authors note. I know that when I see these in my inbox my heart beats faster thinking it could be bad news but this is just to notify you of some changes I will be making.

It has come to my attention thanks to a PM I received that many things are wrong with my story, but the issue I will focus on now is the most horrific but true discovery of them all. My beloved OC character, indeed, is A Mary Sue. I never realized it until it was pointed out. But Kal is a Mary Sue which isn't acceptable. Why has nobody brought this to my attention before?

So from this point on the story will have some changes: most of them concerning Kal and her character. She will no longer be painted in the same light, probably I will insert more FLAWS. I had tried to keep her realistic and failed. (Not perfect. Even I know she isn't MY defenition of perfect.)

Thank you, I love you all, stay awesome and REVIEW,

Forever Maria 3


	13. Chapter 12

The entire Hogwarts student body, not for the first time and most likely not for the last, had an opinion on me.

Some people would shrug something like that off. So what? People ALWAYS had opinions on others. But it was rare that an entire group of people had only two thoughts on a person, like they were two dimensional, and that EVERYONE in that group had it. You were either with me or against me, and in that time I found where my loyalties lay. Obviously not with Slytherins. Or Ravenclaws. Those buggers had sided mostly with the Slytherin house, which meant that in my merged classes with them it became incredibly awkward. I had never liked them that much anyway. It wasn't as if they had ever been my biggest fans either. Something about "not applying myself." I normally had just tuned them out, because guess what, I didn't really care about kids younger than me lecturing me as if they were McGonagall.

The twins had quite valiantly tried to shield me from it all, like my own personal body guards. That was why we were currently at Dervish and Bangs, the shop that repairs and sells magical equipment. We liked to hang around there sometimes, see what we could find. Sometimes there were neat things for sale.

Fred came running from the back of the shop, earning a prompt glare from the owner. 'I found a back room!'

'Big deal,' I rolled my eyes. 'Shops have back rooms, believe it or not.'

'I want to go inside!' He whined.

'Are we allowed?'

'I doubt it. That's what makes it so bloody fun!' Fred took off to the back of the shop, and after giving me an apologetic glance, George followed. So, naturally, I had no choice but to trail after them like a puppy, because I didn't want to be left alone, and they would never let me hear the end of it if I whimped out. I already got enough grief for being a female, as if it were MY fault!

The door did not look like a typical back room door at all. It was old, with deep cracks trailing down into the rotten wood, which gave off an odor of mildew and grime. Patches of darker wood decorated the frame, telling us it was damp, and the metal handle looked rusted and just about ready to fall off. Not exactly appealing.

'I am _not_ touching that.' I decided, taking a step away. It was honestly vile.

'Don't be such a tosser!' George nudged me in the ribs. 'Are you afraid of getting your hands dirty?'

'No!' I said, though it was exactly true. Personal hygiene, while not my main priority, was still something to me, unlike them. But they were boys. It was like they couldn't be allowed to care or they would be kicked from their species.

'I'm going down,' decided Fred. 'George?'

George looked at me pleadingly. 'Kal?'

I sighed in defeat. I guess I was going down after all. 'Fred has to open the door.'

Fred did. Just out of view from the owner at the desk, he tugged. It didn't open like we thought it would. 'Hold on… _alohomora!'_ The door swung open with a raw creak that I was sure Durmstrang Academy could hear.

Walking through the doorframe nervously, I felt a cloud of dust tickle my nostrils, and invisible spider webs in my hair. There had better not be snakes down here or I would run out, or push Fred on top of it for making me come. 'Guys, what if we get caught….?' I asked nervously, looking back at the door which suddenly looked inviting.

'You're turning into such a worry-rat!' Fred scolded, dragging me deeper in. 'What happened to the Kal we used to know and tolerate?'

'She's dead. Like we will be if we get eaten by a python!'

'There are no python's,' George assured me.

'How would you know? Have you been down here befor

e?' 'Well no, not exactly, but-'

'-it's easy to guess-' continued Fred.

'-that there aren't any large, man eating snakes-' said George '-unless Professor Snape has been down here.' We walked farther into the dark, damp room, so I told them to look for a light switch (though I was not certain how eager to see what I'm standing in I was) and they did until I walked into the answer. Literally.

'Ow!' I cried, clutching my head. Just my luck, I walked into something that was stupidly sitting right in the middle of all the clutter I assumed was there by the piles I kept kicking as I walked.

'Kalmine?' I heard someone's voice, though with my hands over my ears I couldn't tell if it's Fred's or George's. 'Are you alright?'

'I walked into this.. thing!' I reached out to feel what my attacker was, but all my hand met was smooth, cold surface. 'I-I think it's a mirror!'

'Hold on...' I heard someone mutter. 'Lumos!' To my relief, a spot of light came to life, lighting our surroundings.

'Lumos.' My own wand lit up, revealing a beautiful, if dusty looking mirror. The mirror had a gold edging, and is shaped like a door frame, besides the reflective surface. I stood there, looking into my own eyes, not sure what the shadows behind me are until people appear. People I recognized from videos, from moving pictures, from the cassettes my mother made. From my happiest dreams and my most haunted nightmares. In the mirror, I stood with my family.

It hit me how beautiful my mother was. With dark red hair, darker than Fred and George's at least, pale as porcelain skin and vibrant green eyes that are exactly my own, I longed to reach out and touch her, hug her, tell her everything she would ever need to know. So I did just that, I allowed my hand to reach out and touch the spot next to her face. A look at my father let me know he was actually a handsome man. The spitting image of Harry, besides his eyes, which have something I recognized in them. Mischief. I saw it in my own eyes whenever I looked at myself.

That isn't all.

A man came and put an arm around older me's shoulders. It looked like a pose for a greeting card. That isn't what made me take a step away. The man made me. The man in the mirror was Fred.

OoOoOoOoOo

'Harry! Harry.' I said, running to catch up with my brother before he left for his classes. I was simply dying to tell him what I had seen, and ask him (or more specifically ask him to ask Hermione) if he knew anything about it.

'What is it? I have to go to Transfiguration-'

'Just hear me out! I saw mum and dad!' I blurted out.

His eyes widened. 'Whatis this rubbish, you "saw" mum and-'

'I saw them! We were at Dervish and Bangs and Fred found a room! And we went in-'

'-why would you go into a room of a shop without asking?'

'We just did, alright? So we went in, and there was a mirror inside, and I saw mum and dad in the mirror, and…' I hesitated. Not quite sure why, but I knew I didn't want to tell Harry yet about seeing Fred. Not until I figured out what it meant.

'And?'

'And nothing! I saw them, Harry!'

Harry thought. I knew his thinking face well, how his forehead scrunched up, making his scar fold over itself. 'Are you talking about the Mirror of Erised?'

'The… the what?'

'Mirror of Erised. It's a mirror I found in my first year, it shows you your heart's desire. Erised is Desire spelt backwards, you know,' said Harry finally.

I crossed my arms defensively over my chest. Why was this the first I was hearing of this? As his older sister I had a right to know all the adventures he had. Heart's desire? Did that mean my "desire" was Fred Weasley? This couldn't end well, I was suddenly glad I hadn't told him. I would never hear the end of it. Or worse, he would tell Ron, and then Ron would tell Fred….. It was a good thing I hadn't told him. 'I saw them too,' admitted Harry in a whisper. 'I guess we both want the same thing.'

'I guess,' I said half-heartedly. Never had I felt like such a coward and a liar in my entire life.

OoOoOoOoOo

Ron Weasley approached me days later, while I was bent over my Transfiguration books. I had been lagging behind in my Transfiguration class lately, in light of trying to make up the loose slack in Potions. Snape was cracking down harder and harder every class. So now it was a chain: each class I focused on made me fall behind in another, around and around and around until I either just took my O.W.L.s or dropped dead. I was betting on the second one.

'Hello, Kal,' said Ron, cautiously, as if approaching a shark. Or a person with a loaded gun. Which was insanely odd, since Ron had always been like a little brother to me: I would tease the heck out of him, he would annoy me, but we loved each other like I did the entire Weasley family: unconditionally. (Yes. Even Percy.) He was better than Hermione, in my opinion. Hermione was a stuck up girl, and she had never liked me all that much. How she got on with RONALD of all people was hard to imagine, they were polar opposites.

'What's on, Ron?' I asked, not looking up from my work long enough to see the look on his face.

'I heard you found the Mirror of Erised.'

I looked up at last. My heart did a flip. Was it possible he knew what I had REALLY seen? No, he couldn't, I hadn't even told Harry that!

'Really? How nice for you.'

'I heard something you might want to know… from Percy...'

'What could I want to know that PERCY said?' I chuckled. Ron looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him before my eyes. Foot in mouth syndrome, I think it was.

'So Percy overheard Lee telling Katie and Abigail that George told him that Fred told him something about it, and it was important-'

Of course Percy had listened in like the snoop he was. What a git! 'Get to the point, Ron, I need to finish a foot essay for McGonagall.'

'Fred saw you in the Mirror of Erised!' He blurted out. Then he ran away, which I was grateful for. At least that way I could focus on the sounds of my world crashing down around me.

 **A/N: Hey all! This is the twelfth chapter, I believe of this story, and I am not proud of it at all. It seemed kind of slow to me, but I was going through major writers block all week. I'm so sorry, this authoress needs to get her head back in the game. But here I am, updating anyway. Please tell me if it's as horrible as I think it is! We got a little bit of drama in this chapter, and trust me when I say it only is just starting. The first step is always the hardest… to write. I'm pretty sure that's a saying. Thank you for all the reviews! I love you people, really I do! I wish I could actually thank you, but since it's the internet I can't, so if you reviewed: THANK YOU, _. Insert your name there.**

 **You know the drill. Review for me and I write. Stay awesome!**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	14. Chapter 13

The clock read 1:50 AM but I still wasn't asleep. No matter what I tried to do to get comfortable, I knew it was futile, because my discomfort came from deep within. While I had Sirius Black after me, along with a possibly mad time-travelling descendant of Azkaban prisoners, I was not worried about any of that, but about my boy troubles.

Yes, my boy troubles haunted me into the late hours of the night. Fred had seen ME, in the mirror of Erised, which meant I was his heart's desire. Worse, I had seen him. Why did I have a feeling things were going to get complicated? I knew, Katie, and Abigail, and George, and Lee knew, Ron knew, Harry might know by now, Fred knew... but they didn't know I knew. So that was the plan. Pretend all was fine and dandy in my universe while I shrieked and died inside. Good plan, Kal.

So in the morning, I woke up ready to go! Meaning I nearly missed my alarm and ran to class without breakfast.

After hesitating a bit, I slid into a pouffe near the twins, Lee, and Katie during Divination. Wordlessly, I got out my book and began to write in it, not having the courage to look up into the lively blue eyes I knew so well, because I would melt if I did, which would be bad for my denial campaign. After many silent minutes passed it became obvious: they wouldn't leave me alone until I looked up.

'What?' I snapped with as much feeling as I could muster, heat already creeping onto my face as my eyes captured Fred's own desperate ones. 'Never seen a lass miss breakfast, have you blokes?'

Katie was first to speak. 'We noticed you didn't come down so we thought -well- we thought...'

'What, that I dropped dead?' The words rolled off my tongue with a bitter taste: that actually could have happened if Nilixa got into my room. My gaze softened as I saw the look on her face, like a scolded child. 'I promise, I'm being careful.' They all blinked at each other, as if sharing a secret. THE secret. A little mind dance we all played.

'You're never careful!' Lee pointed out. I nodded thoughtfully.

'As careful as POSSIBLE, Lee,' said Katie for me. 'Honestly.'

Another few minutes passed in silence after Katie's remark, and I found it to be very awkward. We just weren't the silent type of group.

'Could you all stop bloody staring at me!' I bursted out, energy consuming my every thought, and undirected rage mixed in. 'I'm not under oath here! Sometimes a person gets up late, alright?'

All three pairs of eyes dropped embarrassedly, bringing on blissful relief that they couldn't prod me much longer with them. We all worked in silence for the remainder of class, charting planets and stars diligently until my hand felt it would fall off from all the drawing I had been doing. Judging from her constant breaks and nervous twitch of the fingers, Katie felt the same. It was no wonder that when class ended, we all shot up and hustled for the door, groaning respectively about the homework. 'Two foot essay on Star formation! I already have three essays to complete! Snape, and McGonagall, and Lupin...' I ranted, pushing through the crowd of students, beyond caring of the Hey's! and Watch it's! emerging from the trail behind me. 'And then I have to look up all I can on the Black lineage, and Nilixa, and then I-'

Katie pushed me lightly away from the bustle of the castle. Her eyes were wide and full of concern... and annoyance. 'You'll drive yourself mad if you think like that! Don't you go Granger on me!'

'Of course not!' I feigned hurt, knowing that it would be quite a privilege to be Hermione. What would it be like, I wondered, to ace all my classes without fail? 'I just-I've been sort of overwhelmed-'

'We noticed.' George joked, kicking Fred, who had remained uncharacteristically silent the entire period.

'-and I just don't need another thing to deal with.' Putting the emphasis on that last sentence, hoping my voice would get across what I couldn't. I didn't need Fred problems to deal with.

Oddly enough, it seemed to get to him plenty well, but not in a good fashion. Fred got up with anger clear on his face, looked at me directly, and spoke. 'Alright then.' With that, he stormed away down the corridor.

Why did I feel like I had just done something stupid?

OoOoOoOoOo

Surely enough, Fred didn't speak to me next period. Or the one after that. But I had bigger issues at the moment: namely finding out all I could about time travel without actually being killed in the meantime. Any normal person would just head to the library, but the libraries were packed day and night nowadays with O.W.L and N.E.W.T students. It would be a wonder if I could even get a seat! So I did what any creative Hogwarts Goer would do. Talked to Hermione.

Usually, Hermione was very happy to lend her knowledge. Particularly to people like me, since I so rarely showed any interest in my studies. (Who she would REALLY love to lecture would be the twins. They paid less attention that even me.) When I approached her and asked if she knew anything about Time-Travel, though, she froze.

'No!' Said Hermione in a rush. 'Why would you suspect I knew anything about Time Travel?'

I gave her my best "are you kidding me?" face, 'Because you're Hermione Granger! You know everything!'

'No I don't! I don't know why you would assume I of all people knew anything about the subject!' Without a waywards glance at my puzzled face, Hermione grabbed her book off the table that she had been sitting at and walked stiffly away. Had she gone mad?

Guess a trip to the library was in order, after all.

After another day of classes, I meant to head to the library. I really did. But one look at the pile of work I had sent me into second thoughts off the bat: I would die if I failed my O.W.L.s, too. Hermione would get me before any cuckoo time traveller could. Grudgingly, I headed to the library, sat down, and got to work.

My "work" didn't last long. Only halfway through my potions essay (what was the purpose of Moonstone?) a familiar laugh came busting into the Gryffindor common room, making me unwillingly freeze in place, only three quarters done the sentence I had been busy writing. In a snap, I was continuing, acting as if nothing had happened, hoping the source of the laughter hadn't noticed my pause…

Fred.

'Kal! What are you doing?' Asked Fred. I tilted an eyebrow as nonchalantly as I could.

'What does it look like? Finishing my potion essay for Snape, twat,' my words were laced thickly with sarcasm, and panic. Gods, I hoped they didn't notice…

'What are you all worked up about?' Lee demanded, striding in and plopping down next to me, straining to see my work.

'Nothing,' I lied. 'Just debating the purpose of moonstone.'

'Well cheer up! We have D.A.D.A first thing in the morn tomorrow! Isn't Lupin the coolest?'

'Amazing,' I agreed, smiling a tiny bit. 'I just hope nothing happens to him with the one year curse and all...'

'That is such rubbish,' George spoke, 'Lupin handles himself too well to be taken out by some curse.'

'As if he could beat a curse. Nobody's THAT powerful.'

'Dumbledore could probably be the D.A.D.A teacher,' said Lee.

'But he's not, he's Headmaster,' said Fred. 'And thank god for that. I hear SNAPE was thinking he had a chance with the position! Could you imagine Hogwarts being run by SNAPE?' We all looked off into the distance, mutual looks of horror on our faces.

'You two would be in for it,' I pointed out.

'Harry would be really in for it. Snape despises him worse than anyone I've ever seen before,' observed Lee. 'And he doesn't like you all that much... especially not recently. Not since Lupin got his job.'

'So, Kal, tell us,' interrupted George, ending our shared dislike and confusion. 'Hear anything… interesting lately?'

I knew immediately what he was hinting at. Hear anything about FRED? Did I hear about the Mirror? Carefully, I snuck a peek at Fred, who was obviously trying to appear nonchalant. Fred's jerky head movements and wide eyes made it pretty obvious that he was acting: Fred would ever go into acting, that was for sure.

'Interesting?' I said innocently, not knowing what to do besides deny that I knew anything. My tone of voice was airy, and so obviously fake to my own ears though perhaps not to them. 'Can't say I have.'

'Really? Nothing at all?' Fred asked out of the blue, now looking at me intently, trying to catch my darting eyes. Git. Almost as if he wanted me to have heard!

'No, Fred, nothing!' I snapped. 'Is this an interrogation?'

'No, we just-'

'Just WHAT?' Their eyes widened as they looked at me, but all I could look at was Fred. 'Are you hiding something, blokes?' Anger coursed through me. Why were they lying to me, confusing me so much? Fred had better make up his mind between subtly avoiding the subject and wanting to talk about it.

Fred was the first to take action, as always, the first to do something even if sometimes it was without putting much thought into it. A blessing during certain times, a curse during others. This time was probably one of those "curse" times. 'NOTHING, KALMINE, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.'

My mouth nearly hit the floor, and the few people around us did as well. Fred Weasley, the Fred Weasley, co-king of pranks and head of the jokester jury, was yelling in the library. And the crazy situation didn't end there: he was yelling at ME. One of his best friends, the in circle. I had never been yelled at really and truly by Fred until now.

'What is your problem, Fred?' I jabbed a finger in his face, not caring that everyone in the library was watching me.

'I don't HAVE a problem!'

'It looks like you do!'

'I DON'T! NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU ALL-THE-BLOODY-TIME!'

'I JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND why you're mad at me!'

George tried to intervene, as if we weren't past that point already. Both of us had short fuses. My face was heating up, as I was acutely aware of the entire library gaping at us. 'Guys-'

Fred groaned under his breath, pushing George out of his way to approach me, and I found myself taking a cautious step back. 'THEN STOP LYING! THEN YOU'LL UNDERSTAND!'

The librarian came hurtling towards our little group like a bulldozer on caffeine. She didn't even let us say anything, just shoved us out of the library after yelling like mad for ten seconds. Talk about hypocritical: WHO was the one making noise in the library? Once we were outside, George pulled Katie and Lee away as fast as could be, mumbling something about "letting them sort out things." If I caught up with him later he was so dead.

'What was that?' I demanded, crossing my arms and glaring at Fred, who was mimicking my pose. His hair was mad, all floppy and heading in different directions.

'Why don't you tell me?' He said rudely.

'I don't even know what you-'

'You do so know!'

'I DON'T!'

'YOU'RE LYING ABOUT NOT HEARING ANYTHING. I know Ron knows! I know Ron can't keep a secret to save his life! I KNOW YOU BLOODY KNOW!'

My breath caught in what felt like a near sob for a moment. Seeing the regret flash on his face made the whole thing strangely bearable. This was unfair. How dare he try and talk about it when he knew how it would end: in heartbreak and a tattered friendship. I couldn't let that happen.

'You know what I know, Fred? I know that you are a git, and you are selfish! How do you think this is going to end, huh? All fine and dandy, shall we talk out our feelings and enlighten ourselves?'

'How am I being selfish? I just wanted to ACKNOWLEDGE-'

'I WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE NOT ACKNOWLEDGING ANYTHING!' I shrieked, feeling red hot tears burn inside my eyelids.

'WHO SAYS I WOULD HAVE BEEN?'

'WHY IS IT ABOUT YOU? This is about more than you and whatever it is you saw in that STUPID mirror! This is about our friendship, and everyone else who will need to get involved in-'

Fred's eyes were fascinating to watch in that moment, as they morphed from a soft pool of light to a harsh blue ocean. Something told me I had said something bad. Suddenly, the floor looked really good, as did my shoes. Pretty shoes. 'You just don't get it, do you?' He hissed. 'This isn't ABOUT anyone else! This isn't about Abigail and Katie and George and Lee! THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS.'

'I'm not getting into this with you.' I huffed. Turning away, getting ready to storm off with flair... but my arm was grabbed roughly.

'Fine. Look me in the eyes and say you didn't see me.' I did. I looked into the eyes I knew so well... and I couldn't say it. Why couldn't I say it?

'I-It doesn't matter,' I mumbled halfheartedly, trying to get free.

The triumphant look across his face made me want to throw up for some reason I couldn't explain. How could he be so cruel? Anger came next. His hand raised in a fist, like it did whenever he became this worked up.

'What?' I challenged. 'You're going to HIT me? Is that it?'

'Kal-'

My mind couldn't take any more of this. I couldn't and wouldn't endure more of this slow, painful, heart wrenching torture. The torture of knowing exactly what I wanted but not being able to have it. Normality. As I sprinted off down the hall, the echo's of Fred's voice shouting my name in the mostly empty hallway (the library halllway was NEVER crowded) chased me back to my room, which was, thankfully, empty.

It took everything I had just to my bed before I dissolved into tears.

A/N:

Hey all! This chapter is sort of dramatic... ah, but you know how over-dramatized some things can be. And personally, I think they each have a right to be freaked out. Not really a fan of this one either: it seems sort of cheap. Your thoughts?

No, this is certainly not how it will stay for long. I went through a really horrible writers block last chapter, but now I have gotten back my writing hand and am ready to continue with the frequent updates! I am actually eager to get writing, since I have some plot ideas I want to use. (No, this fiction will not continue into their sixth year. Sorry.)

And no, this is not the end of the teenage OR life-threatening drama. You guys know the drill by now. Follow/fave and review for me so I write more!

Stay awesome,

Forever Maria 3


	15. VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE

Warning: VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE UP AHEAD.

Hello, my lovely readers of my story, it's me, Maria. And I am here writing you guys this authors note only a day after having published a chapter because I have a question to ask all of you.

I have recieved MULTIPLE PM's, reviews, and even Emails about later years in the story. Today, I got a review from someone who was excited for the later years to come (you know who you are :D) and it made me think. Many of you want this to continue into later years. And while I have NO IDEA why, since this is mediocre at best people, I get that some of you do. I was not planning on continuing past this year really, so this is where _you_ come in.

I would really appreciate you guys reviewing and telling me what you think, the question being: DO YOU WANT THIS STORY TO CONTINUE INTO THE LATER YEARS? I need to know now, because I have to start planning for them if you do, meaning some events will be postponed/rushed… it will just affect certain things. Thanks, and sorry this was not an update! (Haha, did ya think there would be two in less than 24 hours?)

Stay awesome,

Forever Maria 3


	16. Chapter 14

Funny how the entire reason I so deliberately avoided the subject of that damned Mirror was to save our friendship, when in reality, it was as shattered as ever just because I tried to save it.

Yes, we both knew now what the other had seen. And we both knew how we felt about it, or I thought we did: I was still a tad confused. But we were both stubborn mules, and angry ones at that, therefor, I was spending more and more time with Fionina, Katie, and Abigail than ever. George and Lee were somewhat conflicted because neither wanted to choose a side. Not that it was actually a thing, but the rift in us was apparent. You were with me or with Fred. Sadly for us, they often hung out with Fred instead of us.

Not that I cared.

Okay, yes I did. I missed my best friends like hell. I missed sitting down at the Gryffindor table at breakfast _in my own spot_ and being taunted relentlessly about my morning bedhead, and then listening to entertaining chatter about Quidditch or their joke shop that they were planning to someday open.

I lived like that through the days. Jumping every time I saw a shadow and then not having somebody to run too. It hurt more than a gunshot to the heart. A small part of me took consolement in the fact that Fred was also miserable. George and Lee had updated me on his welfare ever since he told them what had happened. Not that I wanted to know.

Okay, another lie.

Divination was a complete nightmare that day. I walked into class and my eyes were immediately pulled to the Weasley red hair I recognized, so it took everything in me to force myself away and sit down next to the girls. There was one person missing though... where was Katie? Next to Fred, laughing like she didn't have a care in the world. Grrr. Gods, I hoped the growling noise I heard was only in my head.

'Hello, class! I have foreseen that-' droned Trelawney as always, though I wasn't paying any attention to her. In fact, I was busy watching Katie touch Fred's arm flirtatiously, then look around nervously. How dare she? He looked up from her face and caught my eye for a split second before lowering his head so I couldn't watch his face anymore.

George did not look impressed. In fact, he looked quite horrified. Like I felt.

The rest of Divination was utter hell, to put it mildly. Even hearing George's constant wise-cracks and crazy predictions (according to him, I was going to be eaten by unicorn before the week was through. When she asked about it, Trelawney was not pleased. George put it off as wishful thinking.) could make me truly happy again, the only thing that could was having my friend group back together. The twins never fought!

After class, Lee approached us to speak to George. 'Guess who's behind you? He's supercool, bloody gorgeous, Hogwarts most eligible bachelor, and will be very pissed off if you don't answer this correctly.'

'Hagrid! What are you doing here?' I hollered and whirled around, facing a snickering Lee.

'You think Hagrid is gorgeous?'

'Better looking than you, anyway,' I waved it off. 'I bet half the girls would rather eat troll dung than go out with you.'

'Oh, quit your mouthing off, you silly kidder!' (As if I were kidding.) 'I'm here for George. Hand him over.'

'Nope, he's my hostage. Twenty galleons to get him back. Otherwise, _it's the end.'_ I slid a hand under my neck in a cutting motion and held George by the back of his shirt.

Lee pretended to think. 'I would mate, really, but I'm saving up for-'

'Oh come on, Jordan! Let's just go!' With an unfair wrench forward, George got free of my grip and walked off with Lee. Honestly! He was, like, six foot! And, being a Quidditch beater, had a fair amount of muscle about him. Compared to my 5'7' frame, he and Fred were bloody giants. While I was fast enough, I had about as much extra muscle or bulk as Voldemort had a nose.

The good news was there was no sign of Nilixa anywhere. She had disappeared off the face of the earth, or at least this time period, thank Merlin. Though I wasn't satisfied she was done with me yet.

The feeling in the pit of my stomach was awful for the next few days, a sinking, churning feeling of despair, rage, and indigestion that wouldn't leave me alone no matter what I did. Looking at Fred made it worse, so for the first time in my life I was glad I didn't have every. class with the twat. It gave me time to recover my peace of mind before it was ripped away again. Unhappy wasn't the word for how I was feeling, miserable was.

The dementors that were always just outside did nothing to help my foul mood. Harry was actually quite terrified of them, I recall having heard a rumour that he fainted at the beginning of the year on the train after coming in contact with one, and Professor Lupin helped him out. There was no guarantee it was true, naturally.

'Kal, I hate to see you drive yourself mad over my stupid brother like this,' sighed Ginny in the Common Room, my own little sister by everything but blood. As far as she knew, we were fighting about a prank we had pulled.

'Thanks Ginny, but that really isn't the point. Anyway, I'm fine.' I assured her.

Ginny looked at me skeptically, way too measuring and intelligent to possibly belong to a mere second year. This girl was full of surprises. The only thing was she was in love, totally and completely, with my brother. Shame she was so blind to how busy he was, Harry couldn't possibly have a girlfriend anytime soon. (And not only because Ginny was only twelve.) 'You know that's not true.'

'I'll get over myself. It mostly just is frustrating that I cannot speak to my own friends anymore, or not often at the very least.' I lied through my teeth at poor little Ginny who knew nothing of the real situation.

'Yes but Fred Weasley without Kalmine Potter is like… like Pumpkins without the pastry!'

'You can have a pumpkin _and_ a pastry on their own!' I pointed out, crossing my arms and smirking in the thought that I had won. But naturally, my never ending wit was outsmarted by that of a twelve year old.

'But neither is as good.' Said Ginny Weasley. She raised herself off the couch and bounced away after that, leaving me to wonder about life itself, and to question my own feelings that were set in cotton candy instead of stone. That was how unstable it the entire situation was.

And to make matters worse, I was now craving Pumpkin Pastries.

OoOoOoOoOo THIRD PERSON POV: OoOoOoOoOo

George Weasley stood in his room, waiting for his twin to hurry up and join him so he could give him a proper piece of his mind. Nothing could describe the betrayal George was feeling. To have your own twin, your other half, flirt with the girl you liked... that stung, and George wanted Fred to know it. Finally, after a long while, Fred did enter with a big smile on his face, which dropped when he saw George. 'Hello-'

'Fred, what were you just doing?'

'I-er-snogging Katie Bell.'

George's heart officially dropped into his shoes with a sickening plunk. 'Why?'

'What do you mean why-'

'I MEAN why are you snogging the girl you KNEW I FANCIED?' George screeched, not able to hold it in any longer. He was his own twin an he betrayed him! Little did George know that was exactly why he was snogging Katie.

'I'm allowed, George!'

'You are not!'

'Why do you always get first pick?!' Accused Fred.

George glared at his twin. 'You know that Katie wouldn't have been your first choice.'

'Who says?'

'Me, Lee, KATIE herself,' even saying her name made George want to puke, 'Ron, Percy, Mum, Dad, Harry, anyone who has ever met you, _Kal.'_ He noticed with a smirk how Fred's face dropped when he mention Kal Potter. That was his only real ammo and he was going to use it for all it was worth.

'You... what's gotten into you, George? Are you jealous because I'm the handsomer twin?' Fred said it with a joking tone, as always, but George heard the undercurrent to it, and knew it meant more than a regular joke should.

'I want you to stop.'

'I DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO YOU.' He growled defensively. 'I'M ALLOWED TO DATE KATIE IF I WANT TO.'

And George felt the punch to the gut be sealed and burned into his memory with an iron. Something was horribly wrong with Fred. The Fred he knew would have dumped her the second he knew how much George liked Katie. The Fred he knew wasn't interested in Katie at all. The Fred he knew wouldn't try and take something from George like this. 'You aren't my brother until you apologize.' He hissed.

'Then I'm not your brother for now,' replied Fred with anger laced into his tone. A girl would never have been enough to push Fred and George away from each other before. But something had changed, big-time. And the fact that Fred was _willing_ to go on with dating her even though he knew how much it hurt George… he couldn't believe this was even his twin speaking.

'Fine!' George stormed out of the room angrily, pushing past Lee, who was no doubt headed for their room, and Katie, who was gaping at him. They hadn't had a fight really and truly like this since second year! George wondered how Fred could do that to him, and how Katie and he could do it to Kal, one of their best friends. He knew Fred didn't like Katie... but he supposed his twin had taken the girl he fancied regardless of it. Katie fancied Fred.

Two could play at that game. It was time to use the weapon. It was time to talk to Kal.

 **A/N:**

 **Hey all! I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry that this chapter is so short, but I promise, there will be another update soon! For many reasons. One being because I left this chapter on such a (short!) cliffhanger, and two being that I CANNOT WAIT to show you all the next chapter: it's when things here really begin getting interesting/horrible. Sadly, there will hardly be any drama until the end of the year for Kal involving Nilixa or Sirius Black. I'm not telling what's gonna happen though, so you better follow/fave to find out. ;)**

 **Pretty sure all you people are really pissed at Fred now: trust me when I say I am too. But I have always envisioned the Weasley twins to be a little reckless, and easy to get riled up. What can I say? I have a friend a lot like them! And I threw a little third person there because Fred point of view seemed sort of biased and hard to do to roll with the story, and George just was hard as well because the twins are too awesome to comprehend what goes on in their heads.**

 **Thank you to all my AWESOME followers, favourites, and reviewers who seem to have way too much belief in me and who like this story way too much to be reading it right. Seriously guys, are you sure you're reading MY fanfiction? I'm pretty sure you stumbled across some amazing story with the wrong review link based on how nice you guys all are.**

 **Thank you all! The list is getting a little too long to keep putting on here, sadly, (and happily!) but consider yourself thanked! I promise, I look at all your epic names and think: wow. These people are insane. They like it.**

 **EXPECT AN UPDATE IN THE NEXT WEEK. I'M TRYING TO GET AT LEAST ONE MORE CHAPTER OUT BEFORE SCHOOL.**

 **You people know what to do. Stay awesome!**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	17. Chapter 15

A/N: Can I just say we have some real life Seer's reading these stories? I got a review from Wildhunter64, a guest, and I am pretty sure that person is a Seer. They recommended what I had already written into a future chapter. Them and at least two other PMers! WOW.

Here is the chapter people! :

George approached me detective style, cloak hiding his face partially, back turned to me in the mostly deserted hallway so he spoke without looking at me. 'Meet me in the room of requirements tonight.'

I opened my mouth to ask why, but he was already walking off, and I couldn't even get a hint from his face because of the damned cloak, so I guess I was going to have to show up. As if I didn't have enough to worry about, now I had to stay up late and stress about being caught. If I was I was blaming everything on that git, or better yet, find a way to dump the blame on Fred. He deserved it for flirting shamelessly with Katie for the past two weeks or so. Perhaps I could even blame Katie a little…

She deserved it even more. Fred and I were not on speaking terms, while she and I were - or had been - friends still. And she KNEW. It was more the principle of the thing: that my friend would choose a boy over me. I would never have abandoned HER for Fred, so what gave her the right to do it to me and then call herself my friend? Absolutely nothing, that's what, so she had the right snatched away before she could say "oopsie." Katie was the leper of our room now.

The usual classes passed in a daze, the only difference being George came over and sat with me, Angelina, Fionina, and Abigail, in every class we had rather than Fred, Lee, and Katie. I briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the midnight meeting in the kitchen, but pushed the thought away to focus on memorizing my Potion. O.W.L.s wouldn't study for themselves.

Still, I was glad when night suddenly came. Curiosity was indeed one of my stronger qualities which was not always as good a thing as people made it out to be, it actually made everything less enjoyable when you were curious. I could hardly focus on anything besides what he wanted. No doubt something to with Fred. It was always about Fred nowadays.

It wasn't until Oliver Wood approached me that day to remind me about Quidditch practice that my stomach really and truly dropped. I had forgotten. How was I supposed to play with Fred and Katie on the team?

'Kal, come on now, are you really going to be a coward and hide from him your entire life?' Angelina demanded as we walked back from class to our rooms, to fetch our brooms for practice. I had been debating playing sick... or dead.

'Yes.' I stubbornly said, continuing on. Angelina huffed a breath at my childish way of speaking.

'Now really, you're better than this! You're just letting her win if you don't show up, and the Gryffindor team needs all our chasers to show up to practices!'

That was one thing about her: Angelina was crazy for Quidditch, crazier than even I. She would put aside anything to go to the games, to be on the team. It was her life, and she was damned good at it. 'No they don't. You're their best Chaser!'

'Please, that isn't true. Anyway, do we only use our best Chasers or do we use the whole team?' She scoffed. I scowled, because I knew it was true that we needed everyone to turn up to function properly.

'Fine,' I hissed. 'But if anything happens, I am moving to Bulgaria and applying to Durmstrang.'

'Durmstrang is a boys school!' She called after me with a laugh.

Well, how was I supposed to know everything about Bulgarian wizarding schools? There must have been one for girls, right? 'I'll manage!' I shouted over my shoulder with a tiny smirk. Angelina, as much as I hated to admit it, was a hundred percent right. I was being a baby. What had to be done was about to happen, I was going to step out onto that field and act like nothing bothered me. No matter how much my lungs wanted to choke me everytime I saw the two of them.

After we had grabbed our brooms, Angelina and I walked down to the pitch, where Harry, Oliver, Katie, Fred, and George were already on the pitch. It was somewhat of a relief to walk in with Angelina, I wasn't sure if I could bear having all the eyes on me.

This year had been a pretty unfortunate year for Quidditch. So many incidents had occurred, all involving my brother. The dementors, his seeing the grim, his broom crashing (though he had gotten a FIREBOLT at Christmas, the lucky duck), and several injuries. Oliver was stressed out of his mind, it being his last year and all, trying to bring home the Quidditch cup for once in his Hogwarts life. I admit, it would be pretty wicked to get it this year. We all knew we were the best team.

'Good, you're here!' Said Oliver as I looked him openly in the face with a smiling Angeline (who I was sure had a little crush on him, he had been her Quidditch mentor and idol since we were first years) and tried not to look at Katie or Fred.

'Where else would we be?' I asked with a chuckle. 'With the Slytherin team?'

'Don't even joke about that, Kal. We have to win that cup this year! We still-' I tuned him out at that point. It was always the same boring blah-blah-blah about winning, earning glory for the Gryffindor house, and just an all around cheesy pep talk. We all just wanted to get our arses in the air.

When he was finally finished, we began the practice match, all the while Oliver shouting at people. 'Potter!' My head jerked to look at him, but he was watching my brother. 'Keep your broom on the go at all times! You have to be ready to go!'

I flew around, high above the field, watching the balls zoom around. Angelina had the Quaffle, she was closing in on Wood…. and the Quaffle was blocked. 'Good shot, Angelina! But next time aim more for the sides, not the middle!'

Katie had the Quaffle now and was zooming around, trying not to be hit by the bludgers that were flying around. I positioned myself closer to the hoop, caught her pass, and scored, using his tip for Angelina. 'Good, but it was a lucky shot!' He muttered under his breath. I scoffed.

We continued with this for a while, Angelina scoring most of the points, because really this was all a put on match. Ball control and all that. All about scoring. Harry hardly even had to work since the pressure was off. Eventually, we finished and landed on the ground, and after listening to another ten minutes that stretched on forever of his speech, we were free to go. Thank Salazar. I was going crazy listening to people talk, talk, talk all day. My schedule was more like nap, nap, nap.

OoOoOoOoOo

True to my word, I met George in the Room of Requirement late at night under the cover of the stolen invisibility cloak. Harry wouldn't mind… I hoped. 'George Weasley, whatever it is you need to say, say it before I leave! I snuck out and risked being caught for this!'

George sat in a comfy looking chair near a wooden table, in the small space that was the Room of Requirements. In theory, it could also be huge, but now it wasn't. Oh, how it fascinated me every time. 'Keep quiet, you tosser! Do you want Peeves to come in and hear us?'

'Peeves wouldn't give us away.' It was the truth. Peeves had always had a soft spot (if that was what it was called) towards Fred, George, Lee, and I, since we often assisted him in some of his crude pranks, and he often enjoyed some of ours.

'He might. Anyway, we don't want to risk it.'

'So what do you want?' I demanded, sitting down in a chair that appeared next to the small table. 'This had better be good.'

He suddenly looked uncomfortable. 'You know how Fred and K-Katie have been… well...'

'Dating? Snogging? What do you call it?' I hissed, hoping this wasn't a talk about them. 'How could I have missed it?'

'I know you didn't miss it. You really do fancy Fred, don't you?'

'I -no-' If I fancied him, why was it I didn't fancy George too? I wondered. Was it because George had always acted more like a brother towards me, so I began to see him as one? Maybe it was the fact that Fred, while near identical to George, was the more reckless twin, the one without a sense of reason, and the lead twin, though neither would admit there was one. To them, it was always Fred AND George, never one leading the way, though I knew Fred was the one in front always. Like I said. It was always Fred and George. Never George and Fred.

'I know you do, Kal, could you stop with your act?'

'Fine. I do. Happy? You gonna go tell him now?'

'No. Fred and I are not on very good terms right now...' my ears perked up. THEY HAD HAD A FIGHT? THEM?

'What are you talking about, George?'

'Fred was being a twat-faced jerk,' said George.

'Of course he was.' I laughed slightly.

'So… as I am sure you might have noticed… I sort of...'

'You fancy Katie Bell. Obviously.' I rolled my eyes at the way his own eyes clouded with confusion and indignation.

'Why would you just assume that? I could be talking about anyone! Anyone! In fact, I find it offensive that you would just say I fancy my twins witch.' George cried, his voice high.

'So you don't?' I cocked my head, trying to understand him.

'Of course I do, Kal, now really, don't be an idiot.'

What in the name of Merlin's pink knickers was I going to do with that boy? He was completely and utterly insane. Officially.

'But- oh never mind. Just tell me why you felt the need to clarify all this.' I glowered at his cocky smile.

'Patience, patience, my child-'

'-I'm only a month younger than you!'

'-you see, we each have something the other wants. My theory-'

'-because your theories are always brilliant-' I sarcastically stated, earning a prompt glare from him.

'-my theory is that Katie and Fred don't really like each other in that way, and they're doing it for some other reason. Some reason like, say, to make us jealous?'

'That is so arrogant to assume Katie fancies you.'

'Why wouldn't she? I'm the better twin.'

'That you are,' I grinned at how his face lifted when I said this.

'My plan, dear Kalmine, is to fight fire with fire. On that note, you can purchase our Fire-Mouthed-Trick-Candies from-'

'Honestly, get to the point.' I had always thought fighting fire with fire was stupid, though. You didn't fight fire with fire! You fought it with water and/or a fire extinguisher! All fighting fire with fire made was more fire, and then you were worse than when you began.

'I say, since they're doing it to make us jealous, or at least angry, we should do the same thing to them! If we pretend to fancy each other-'

I fell off my chair. Literally. Grace was not my name. I had been leaning precariously on the back legs of it like people always warned me not to do, and when he announced his "brilliant" aka stupider-than-prodding-Voldemort-himself-with-a-stick plan, I had tipped too far back in panic and crashed onto the ground. Gods I hoped nobody had heard…

'Absolutely not. Out of the question. No way. Not happening. And if I haven't specified enough for your stupid rat brain: NO.' I said quickly.

'Why not? It would work!'

'I am not pretending to like you, George! It would be like-like dating my brother!' I was still dazed and panicked. The thought of being with George made me want to puke, since he was practically family to me. The plan just wouldn't work if we were holding hands and I was besides him, vomiting. Something told me it just wouldn't.

'C'mon! Where's your sense of adventure! It would be a story for the grandkids!'

'My whole life is a story for the grandkids!'

'This would be a funny one! Oh please? I really need someone to do it, and I thought since you were my only real female friend besides Angelina at the moment, and I assumed you would want to get Fred back, it would be a good tradeoff!' He looked at me with those pleading blue eyes that made me want to throw him off a cliff to get away from him.

'Hey now! Cover your eyes, that isn't fair!' I whined, making him crack up. 'I'm serious!'

'Okay, so imagine you don't do it. Fred and Katie… dating… you never being friends again… because of it… how does that sound to you? Good?'

I imagined it. I closed my eyes and let the image take over my mind. All through the years of school and maybe past it, watching Fred and Katie be together without me being either of their friends, without me being in their lives at all and without them being in mine. I couldn't picture it without wanting to buckle over and die. The prospect was horrible. More horrible, I realized, then pretending to have feelings for George. So if that was what it took then I would do it.

'Wouldn't they just be angry with us for doing that to them? Like we are with them right now!'

'Not when we explain, my intellectually challenged little jokester. The plan would be to flaunt it in front of them, and my plan is to admit what we were doing when Katie admits her never dying love for me, the true greatest twin.' I thumped his arm, hard.

'But… it would be so hard to pretend to possibly like you.'

'I'll choose to believe that is just your broken heart talking. I get what you mean though. You've always been like a sister to me.' George scoffed, holding a hand halfheartedly over his chest.

'Your heart is on your left side, moron,' he quickly switched sides and resumed his "smouldering". 'It's completely true. You've always been like a sister to me, too.'

George thwacked me hard in the head. 'Shut up. A sister wouldn't be so handsome and brilliant.'

'Fred looks the exact same as you, are you calling him handsome?' I challenged with a smirk. George leaned away from me in disgust.

'Kalmine! You know that isn't true! Fred has two more freckles than me! And he walks differently if you look closely! With less swagger, I reckon.'

'Suuuuuure.'

'Anyway, what do you say?'

'You're sure about this? It seems sort of shaky...' I hesitated briefly.

'Please? Please please please? Don't be boring! I'm desperate here, Kal, this is the best chance we have, in my opinion. Fred isn't going to forgive you or me, I guarantee it, and Katie is going with whatever he says!'

I sighed, knowing what I was going to do, knowing how stupid it was, knowing how I would most likely regret the whole thing the next morning but not able to stop myself from putting out my hand. Huh. So that was how pathetic I had become in the time away from them.

'Deal.'

George gave me a goofy, twinkling grin. 'Marvelous. We start tomorrow.'

A/N:

Yep we got a little drama going on over here' Not on a last though, since this year is slowly coming to a close for the gang. Honestly I typed up a whole bunch: my fingers might be on fire! Also I have never felt more loved ever. 40 reviews: THANK YOU AWESOME PEOPLE! Why are you liking this stupid story when there are a billion better ones, huh?

Anyway, thanks! Review pleassssse!

Stay awesome,

Forever Maria 3


	18. Chapter 16

George claimed that if what he referred to as "The-Super-Awesome-Unbeatable-George-Weasley-Is-A-Genius-Plan" took time to set into motion. We obviously couldn't just wake up and be -shudder- interested in each other, so we were planning on just spending more time together and slowly pretending, like it would have been had it been real.

Sometimes I wished I had liked George instead of Fred. Before I remembered why I didn't like him, and then I wondered why I bothered with either of them. Before I remembered how downright hilarious they could be, and how awesome my first years had been due to them.

My plan was for us to be friends again before the school year was out.

We walked down to breakfast together, pretending to be engrossed in conversation when really I was begging for it to be over. All this talk of the plan was getting tiring. One could only hear the words: The-Super-Awesome-Unbeatable-George-Weasley-Is-A-Genius-Plan so many times before one went mad. I subtly told him so by subtly snapping at him and subtly throwing my pumpkin juice in his face when we got out into the hallway. What? I was tired, thanks to _someone._

The good news was I was beginning to think George had been right about Fred and Katie. There were little moments when Fred would look wistfully away from her when she was talking, searching for someone (most likely his twin), or when Katie would sigh and put her head down that told me it wasn't as perfect as they wanted everyone to believe. Good. Perfect was so overrated.

I wasn't too focused on anything around me when I bumped into someone in the hallway. I don't mean th bumped as in "Oh hi! Fancy seeing you here!" bumped. I mean the "oops I smashed into you" bumped. What a klutz I was. But this was coming from the girl who had once literally walked into a pole, fallen down the Dursley steps countless times, and even somehow sprained her wrist by tumbling off a chair in the library, so this was really nothing.

I heard Madame Pomfrey was considering making me a frequent visitor card to the Hospital Wing. Complete with stamps and everything. That would be bloody epic! Maybe I would get hurt on purpose just to show I could.

When I recovered my head and got up, I looked into the face of Kurt, my former friend and newly certified blood traitor traitor. As in someone who wasn't a pureblood but frowned among those who were also not purebloods: people like me and Hermione, and the Weasley's for being a "non-respectable" family. Yeah, well, the Weasley's had better hair than him. So ha!

He looked like he might speak, so I quickly snapped, 'What do you want?'

'I just wanted to ask why you were so mad at me lately!'

'You know why!' I hollered. 'YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!'

'I just-'

'You what? Put the "mudblood's" in their place? Because guess what? YOU'RE the arse who's picking on kids younger than you, so cram it!' I quickly stalked away, resolving to get my revenge. Soon. It was sad it would most likely be without Fred and/or Lee.

A familiar blue presence hovered around me, making me smile. Peeves. The old codger was really a nice ghost once you got to know him… and if he wasn't blowing something up in your face. Then again, that was how people viewed Fred and George as well.

'I saw that, Potty!' He cackled at me.

'Did you? Are you going to turn me in, or help me?'

Peeves decided to play dumb. 'With what, Potty? With untangling your hair? It really is dry as a bone. _Potty, potty, hair so-'_

I quickly shut him up by glaring and aiming my wand in his face (as if it could do anything to the dead). 'Can you please keep on that arse-for-brains the rest of the day or so?'

Peeves face split into the biggest grin I had ever seen, so big it ripped the skin grotesquely of his face before he fixed it up again. Ghosts. 'Is Kal Potter asking me to be bad?'

'You always are,' I winked and pointed off where I thought he had gone. 'Remember, his least favourite colour is yellow and he is afraid of rats.'

'Yes Potty, ma'am!' After a salute, he flew off in the direction I had pointed, and I grinned to myself. Peeves had always been a "friend" of our little gang, besides Katie and Angelina, them being sort of unsure about befriending the dead, and Alicia Spinnet, who was snooty about it, and outrageously shy. Respect for my pranks and for Fred and George gave me connection to the mischievous poltergeist.

A shadow moved just slightly behind me, making me jump. This sort of stuff had only started happening when Nilixa was in the castle. How she would know where I was stood beyond my measures of comprehension… hurrying a bit, I rushed into the D.A.D.A classroom and sat in my seat with a heavy thud, pulling Angelina in next to me.

OoOoOoOoOo

My heart beat out an irregular rhythm, perfectly timed to the sway of my boggart in class. I had once read a book about Rare Magical Creatures, and been fascinated with what was standing in front of me: a lethifold.

Related to the dementor, a lethifold has a long black cloak and floats just above the ground. The difference? It eats people while they sleep, muggles and wizards alike. Eats them alive, the only ward against them, like their cousins, the dementors, is the Patronus charm.

The thumping in my ears got louder and louder as it got closer and closer, filling my head with that and only that. The sureness I had felt at first had been drained, leaving me with only myself doubt and fear, much like a dementor itself. The faces of my friends filled my vision. Katie, Angelina, Alica, George, Fred, Lee, I could hear their voices calling out to me, yet I didn't care that two of them I was not on speaking terms with, because the fear was all consuming. Nothing else registered in my mind.

'Kal! Kal! RIDICULUS!' Angelina was shouting, I could hear her but not turn my head to see her properly.

'KALMINE, C'MON!'

'Ridiculus.' Professor Lupin said gently, prodding me towards it, his own face tight with fear at the sight of the ghastly thing.

'R-Ridiculus.' I tried. Nothing happened. 'Ridiculus. Ridiculus!'

The demon was coming closer at an alarmingly fast pace. Voices continued to prod me and scream wordless things, while only one cut through the rest.

'Kal! IF YOU CAN'T DO THIS AND I CAN, I WILL FOREVER HOLD IT ABOVE YOUR HEAD! NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN! I'LL WRITE A BLOODY NOVEL TITLED "I BEAT KALMINE POTTER" AND PUBLISH IT JUST TO GLOAT. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?'

These words snapped me out of my stupor. Fred was the one yelling, without a doubt. The words had their desired effect. Anger clouded my every thought. How dare Fred say these things after everything else? No way was I going to be spoken to like that in front of our friends, our class! Risking a backwards glance, I seeked only to see him, and I did. I saw his worried expression and hopeful stature, which was somewhat smug mixed in.

No way was he winning.

'Ridiculus!' I hollered, aiming my wand at the lethifold. It sprouted fiery red hair that looked exactly like Fred's, an F Weasley sweater, and two beaten up running shoes. Truthfully, the sight was hilarious. What was even more hilarious was Fred's groan of protest as he saw it and the professor's almost proud look.

Eat that, Fred.

OoOoOoOoOo

The plan went into action fully four days after this incident. After, I might add, I heard Kurt talking to someone behind a portrait at night. Something was up.

George and I were not looking forward to the public aspect of it, and had decided to let Lee out of the link lest he run to Fred and squeal like the pig he could be. Angelina knew of it and was completely and totally against it.

Buzzkill.

We had to do it publicly though. George and I walked in hand in hand, pretending to not notice the whispers and stares from around us. I heard them all too well through our acting.

'George and Kalmine Potter?'

'I knew they would get together!'

'They set off a stink-bomb in my room last year.'

'I thought she and Fred were dating!'

On and on the list of little jabs at me, my friends, my life continued as I felt my confidence crumble underneath me. This was a horrible idea. It really had been. Sad as it was, the only thing that gave me the strength to walk to my seat properly was remembering Fred's words the week before. Revenge would be sweet.

We sat down with Angelina. She was giving us disapproving looks from behind her breakfast to which I stuck my tongue out.

'Okay, do something like you fancy me. Um... what do people dating do?' George whispered with a smile. 'I'm going to play with your hair and you pretend to seat my hand away. PLAYFULLY. Not like a mad woman.'

Angelina was watching us, the beginning of a laugh on her face. 'This is ridiculous. Talking about what you're going to do? Only you.'

George took a strand of my hair (I resisted the impulse to pull it away and disinfect my head) and started batting it around like I saw Cedric Diggory and Cho Chang do sometimes. _Act like Cho._ They were the most envied "on/off" couple in the school. Gently, I tugged it away with great relief, seeing the amused nod George gave me. _This is actually fun, like being a muggle actress!_

 _'_ Now you pretend to scold me, again, without bloody killing me.'

I put on my best fake angry face and started waving my hand around in the air. 'Nice breakfast, yeah?' It was hard to say, considering the theatrics I was putting on.

'As always, the house elves have outdone themselves. They deserve a medal!' George had adopted a pleading face and clasped hands, like he was begging. It took everything in me to stifle my mad laughter. With a hiss of a giggle, I touched him over-exaggeratedly on the nose.

'House elves rule.' To any outsider, it looked very intimate and... ugh... like two people who fancied each other. 'We deserve medals ourselves.'

'I am going to pick you up and toss you off the bench so you can see how Katie and Fred are taking this,' he whispered, eyelids dropped "seductively." He looked like a honey badger on drugs.

He did, and with a squeal, I caught a glimpse of their unhappy faces. Fred was smouldering with anger, red face clashing horribly with his hair and sweater, fists clenched around his silverware. Katie was pouting with her head on the wood of the table and her arms blocking her face. Something about it made my heart break. Making him angry was a triumph but it made me depressed to see this is what things had come to, and Katie... was just all around awful to see. I wanted to hug her, tell her how I felt about everything this past week.

'How're they looking, detective?' George said in an accent.

'Not happy. Fred looks constipated and Katie looks completely ready to sob.' Ouch, it still hurt to think it had been my fault.

'Perfect.' He whispered. One look at Angelina sent us both back into our near-hysterics. Her face was puffed up to keep from laughing.

'C'mon!' George nearly shouted in my ear, grabbing my hand and sprinting out of the hall, towing me after him. Not until I had grabbed Angelina of course. We got into the hallway just to collapse against the wall in uncontrollable giggles.

We rolled, laughed, clutched our sides with the ridiculous thought of George and I. At their faces. At what we had been doing. Once the hysterics calmed to a certain degree into ragged pants and laughs, Angeline turned o face us.

'What will we say we were doing?'

'You two just got so lost in my charm that you couldn't resist me anymore, naturally,' he shrugged. I thwacked George with my elbow.

'As if, bro.'

'Name one girl who could resist my charms!' He shot a glare at Angelina and I's slowly raising hands. 'You two don't count.'

'You just cannot admit defeat!' Hollered Angelina. 'DEFEAT, DEFEAT, DEFEAT!' With that, we jumped to our feet and ran off down the hall laughing, running from an angry George Weasley who was telling something about us being dead when he caught us, which would never happen.

How was I supposed to know Fred Weasley had been standing there outside the door for the last few seconds. Only in time to see us run and see George chasing us. Only in time for me to screw things up with him and George.

OoOoOoOoOo THIRD PERSON POV: OoOoOoOoOo

He stormed through Hogwarts, knocking over cups from the table in the common room and books from their places on the shelves. People called to him hesitantly, asking him what was wrong, if he wanted to test some new merchandise on them, but he stormed past them and up the stairs to the boys dormitories, and his very own room. For the past four days he had been suspicious of this and know it was certain: Kal Potter and George Weasley were together, or as together as two people who had not announced their dating could be.

for four days he had watched and seen things he would only care to see in his darkest of nightmares. Four days he had hated his brother with a passion. A bomb was ticking somewhere, and it was about to go off. Judging by the way people shot out of his path, they all knew it too.

When Fred was seated on his bed positioned so he glared at the door, he waited and waited for his twin to show up.

George finally did walk in, a big smile on his (admittedly handsome, thought Fred) face. Without a word, he began pulling out useless books to take to his next class. Fred was too quick though and was soon blocking the door. 'What the bloody hell was that?'

'Was what?' George asked innocently.

'You. Know. What.'

'The thing downstairs? You aren't mad, are you?'

'Oh why would I be mad? Just because my twin brother is with the girl you know I fancy-' he seethed, but was cut off by George's cold glare.

'Doesn't feel so dandy, does it?'

'What-'

'Katie, Fred! YOU KNEW. And you still did it! Do I had every right to act on another girl, and whoops, it happens to be a girl you like. So what? You clearly didn't care when it was you in my place!' George hissed, grabbing his books violently and shoving them down.

'I-I-' Fred had no words. That wasn't at all what he had done with Katie! He had... done the same thing. So? Why should he feel so guilty all of a sudden?

Without warning, George's fist connected with Fred's jaw.

Both the impact and surprise made Fred stumble back. George had never hit him! As children they had brawled but never like this! Never for real. Never for a reason. Fred, once recovered, jumped at his twin like a wildcat, taking him down in a chokehold, for retaliation. After getting over the shock, George rolled out from under him and pushed him into the bed frame. Fred soon brought his knee to George's stomach, and hearing the colourful wording George used was reward enough for all he had endured with Katie Bell recently. Honestly, George should have better taste. Katie was as boring as Professor Binns on his nap.

After another minute or so of punching and kicking and all around fighting, each had quite a few bruises and were sporting their angriest faces as they fought like gladiators. Their next classes forgotten completely. It wasn't until they fell face first together into a pile of joke shop merchandise that they paused, swallowing a great many things they couldn't see by accident.

Looking at George's look of horror, Fred quit the fighting and looked in the mirror before he burst out laughing at the sight of them. Instead of seeing two teenage boys, they each saw two gigantic, Weasley red, Canaries.

Something about it was so comical they had to laugh. And laugh. And laugh. 'At least we know they work!' Gasped George inbetween desperate wheezes.

'No...shit...George...' heaved poor, defenseless Fred.

After they had both exhausted themselves, they took the antidote and sat down. 'You know, we're Weasley Wizards! The best kind! You'd think we'd be better than sitting there, missing class, heaving and wheezing our guys out.' George stated simply.

'Yeah,' Fred answered uncomfortably. What had just happened... was a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake.

'That's a tongue twister! Weasley's Wizard Heaving and Wheezing...' George muttered. 'And a good joke shop name.'

'Weasley's Wizard Heaves? It sounds like an underwear shop for women.' Snickered Fred. 'Not that I'd be against that.'

'No, you dim-wit! Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!' George proclaimed. 'Though maybe an underwear shop on the side.'

Fred laughed aloud for a second. 'I volunteer to do all the sizing!'

'You do realize any old troll could walk in. Professor McGonagall, Alicia Spinnet...'

'...or our mother.' Fred shuddered at the thought. 'Never mind. That image will never leave my mind.'

'Fred, I'm really very sorry I punched you. It was childish and wrong.' Recited George like he was a toddler who broke a crayon in muggle camp. He had only heard of those things.

'Of course we did it, then.'

'Your turn.'

'Fine. I'm really very sorry I ate our canary creams-' THWACK. 'OW! Not so hard, George, I bumped it on the desk! Fine, I'm deeply sorry about everything that has happened this week and the one before. Okay?'

George nodded, to both their reliefs. Neither liked fighting or planned to do it again. Ever. 'Good, now we need to devise a plan to get Kal to talk to you again.'

That was the most shocking thing of all, hearing his brother say something like that. George was always very protective of her, as if they were honestly family. True to his promise, he had beaten up and bullies who "tried to mess with one of us", just Fred had always assumed he would be helping them, not the one getting pounded to a pulp. Both physically by George and mentally by Kal herself.

'Why would you help me do that?'

'Because you're still my brother! Even if I wouldn't say this in front of people under gunpoint, I do love you. And it sucks having us all split up like that, We haven't been able to test anything lately, we are so behind on our joke merchandise without speaking to one another! It's catastrophic.' With a sly smile, George punched Fred for good measure on the arm. 'Not to mention that when you two get married I'll be able to say I told you so! Just think of it, Freddie!'

With a laugh, Fred got up and helped his twin to his feet (after dropping him on the ground once, but who didn't see that one coming?), then led him out of the room, with no intention to go to classes. They had some catching up to do about recent weeks. Boys will always be boys, realized Fred. And he wouldn't have it any other way. Because something told him that this was for the best in the long run.

Each of them felt a bond stronger than before, based on more than just a mutual thirst for fun and a love of humour. A real, honest, brotherly bond that came only from emotional experience, and age. Lots of that was involved. _But who has time to get into shite like that when we have jokes to test?_

 **A/N:**

 **Yay! It's a long chapter! I have almost completed the chapters for The Prisoner of Azkaban, so tell me how often you guys would like an update. Either one update every day, or one update every two or three? Just tell me whatcha think, okay? REVIEW AND TELL ME!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	19. Chapter 17

A/N: Some of you all might be getting irritated with me here. "HOW LONG IS THIS GOING TO STRETCH FOR?" I know, I know, I dragged this year way out with my shameless fluff. Take caution though, this is one of the third remaining chapters of Kal's fifth year. We have a sort of happy chapter here, then a chapter of the real stuff: action! And then just a year finish, maybe shorter than the others since there isn't much to say except: "YEP BYEEE. See you!" XD I'm rambling again. Without further ado, I present... CHAPTER SOMETHING. :::

 **Chapter Something, Possibly 17:**

 _Bleeeep. Bleep bleep bleep! BLEEEEP!_

With a groan, I sat up slightly in my bed to find the awful noise that had woken me up, only to see a mass of red and gold and what I believed was green jump on me, pinning me to the bed.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAL! YOU'RE OFFICIALLY 16!" Shouted three very familiar voices. Lee, George, and... Fred. Fred? He was here, not killing me or George? Oh thank god, it was about time we made up. The thought had been drilled into my head ruthlessly by Angelina and George, who were always on our cases. Angelina, apparently, hated to see her "babies" fight.

Looking up, I saw Fred himself was the one who had jumped on top of me and was now grinning down into my face.

'Fred Weasley, get the hell off me!' I struggled under him to no avail, he was purely too heavy for me to budge. 'Ugh! What have you been eating? You weigh as much as Dudley!'

'Offensive words, Potter. To think! We went to all this trouble on your 16th birthday only to be received with such unkindness and disrespect! Fine, I'm going to go!' He pretended to head towards the door with a teasing look on his face. 'I'll be sure to tell Alicia to get rid of the cake, too.'

Cake! That was literally all it took to get me full on awake in under thirty seconds, throwing a robe over my pajamas and crossing off the day May 14th on the calendar. Landing with a thud at the bottom, I slid down the stair-railing, careful that it didn't change while I did so. With a last _bleeeep_ in my face with his stupid air horn, Fred ran down the stairs as well with George and Lee on his heels.

Waiting for me downstairs (thank Merlin it was a Sunday or we would have been in so much trouble) was Angelina, Alicia, Abigail, Fionina, Lee, George, Fred, and Katie. I froze as my eyes drifted over to her, then straightened proudly. Fred was making amends with me. I was making amends with Katie. The best birthday present I could ask for.

A giant banner was hanging over the painting to Gryffindor common room reading: _Happy Sixteen!_ and there was enough food on the table to feed a small army or **_even Ron_**. House elves must have supplied it from the Kitchens. A pile of gifts waited for me next to an armchair. Best of all, so did my friends, the best friends in the entire world, even if they did wake you up with air horns on your sixteenth birthday.

A confused looking Harry and Ron trooped down the stairs. Harry looked at me with wide eyes. 'We heard a noise-' they looked at the air horn in Fred's left hand, the banner, the gifts, and back at me, before they connected the dots to why had happened. Harry came rushing towards me happily.

'Happy birthday! I nearly forgot, I didn't know they were doing anything... hold on, I'll go get my gift!' He scampered off and returned with two neatly wrapped packages, one from him and one from Ron. Hermione had undoubtedly done the packaging job for them.

'Thank you!' I ruffled his hair and turned to address my beaming friends. 'And you people... are... officially... the best... people... ever!' I jumped at the gang, grabbing randomly, taking Katie down in my embrace. One look at her face told me how guilty he was. Forgiveness was hers today.

Slowly, people trickled down and wished me happy birthday. Even McGonagall had given me a curt nod, and the twins a disapproving glance, though her lips twitched as if she wanted to crack a smile. 'C'mon Minnie! Join the party!' Called George. She left after that.

I opened my gifts and cherished each one. A brand new Quidditch set from Harry, Quidditch throughout the aged from Ron, a notebook and quill that self corrects mistakes (yes Hermione, I get the hint), an amazing moving Niagra Nymph's Quidditch poster from Angelina (that would brighten up our room at the Dursley's!), a wand case from Katie, a hair comb that would manage my hair for up to six hours at a time from Alicia. A giant rock-cake from Hagrid, a remembrall from Lee. Colour changing bracelets from Fionina, a two pound jar of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans from Abigail. Peeves the poltergeist had even swung into the party to drop me down a parcel of forever-stick-stickers: the stickers that never came off. The twins and I would find good use for these, I promised him.

"Thata girl, Potty," he had cackled when I yelled it after him.

Best of all, a large assortment of newly packaged "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes" products from the twins. When I saw this I had jumped up to hug them both, chirping about being awesome and just generally making a fool of myself. Such a cool name! I briefly wondered how they figured it out.

Long story short? It was the best birthday in history of birthdays, for so many reasons, including the long overdue talks I had with two certain friends.

'I am really very sorry,' Katie said from where she sat next to me on the couch. 'I wasn't thinking, If I had been I would never have hurt you. You were just kind of good at hiding it-'

'I'm also sorry. For, you know, the whole George thing. I think he fancies you too.'

Her face lit up like the sun, casting light into the faintest shadows I had left about her. Nobody could smile like that and not be sincere. Nobody. 'Speaking of-'

'No. Absolutely not. I want to forget that whole thing ever even happened.' I insisted.

'Go talk to him then,' she prodded me with her knee.

'I suck at feelings...'

'Just do it.' She shoved me into Fred's lap, and I got up, my face burning. This would be awkward, after weeks of not speaking and here we were.

'Fancy seeing you here...' I intelligently said to start off the conversation.

Fred burst out laughing luckily. 'Let's just be outright. Some pretty... unique things happened. Were discovered. Now wait, I have this really kooky idea.' He held up his hands for silence. 'You tell me what you want to do about it and then... we don't get in a fight and ignore each other for a month.'

I gasped at his preposterous notion. We were much too immature to not get in a fight! What was this rubbish? 'How utterly ridiculous you are! That's crazy talk!'

'Kal, I missed you a lot.' He murmured into my hair, hugging me to him. I let myself be happy in that moment. That sweet moment when all was simple and pure and true and all I knew was that I could trust the people around me. Just leaning against Fred, thinking about how much I had changed, lost this year, and how much I had found. I had lost friends, found them, become them, reformed them. Friends were friends no matter what, though.

 _Friends were friends no matter what._

'What do you say we forget this whole year even happened?' I offered happily, leaning my head into his shoulder, suddenly exhausted from my entire life. Or maybe it was just an after effect of the air horn alarm.

'That sounds like the best idea I've heard all year. Ah yes, I remember it well. It appears we are geniuses then, Kal, because we are bitty Fourth years going into sixth!'

'You! A genius! THAT'S rich!' I snorted into my hand.

'Shut up and go to sleep. We're taking our O.W.L.s soon anyway. Better to rest while you still have your sanity.' With that, I thumped up the stairs to my ed and collapsed in the happiest sleep I knew since this forgotten mess had started.

'Nope, this year never happened, so we haven't studied for our exams!'

'Are you telling me that we have to take our O. _twice?!'_

OoOoOoOoOo

O.W.L.s was better than everyone made it sound. After an entire day, I was finished my O.W.L exams and was stressing over my results already. What if I failed? I knew I should have listened to Granger... the fact that we had to wait months to get those results made it all even harder to bear. Mixed with the Dursley's fast approaching... my days were a continuing whirlwind of anxiety, fear, and bliss.

The only thing I had as news, thankfully, was rather unremarkable. A large, black dog had taken to watching us mess around outside. Either on the Quidditch pitch or just on the grounds. It was when we were playing Quidditch one day that Abigail pointed out something interesting.

'Kalmine Potter closes into the hoop... she dodges a bludger sent by an obnoxious little skunk, George Weasley, makes it to the hoop manned by Fionina... she shoots... SHE SCOOOOORES!' I threw my arms up into the air in a sort of victory dance, waving my legs around as much as I could on the broom. 'Take THAT Weasley's!'

All of a sudden, a body flew into mine: I was hurtling towards the ground on a fast flying broom! I screamed just as the person steering pulled away from near collision with the tight packed dirt. Freddie boy, of course.

'You ARSE!' I screeched. 'I am going to take all your pranks and throw them into the black lake!'

'Yeah right.' He laughed. 'You love their genius.'

'Fine... I'll tell Percy on you! He's head boy!'

'We know. He never shuts up about it! Maybe he'll wave his hand at us, or show us his face to punish us!' George scoffed, making me bristle.

'Honestly, it's like you're not even trying! Have we taught you nothing?' Fred demanded, me still on his broom, glaring all the way.

'Fine. I'll-I'll... _I'll tell your mother_!"

I knew I got them by the way the blood drained from the faces of each twin before they looked at me with terror in their blue eyes. Those eyes...

'You wouldn't.' Whispered Fred, ignoring Lee's cackles. 'You wouldn't.'

With my arms crossed, I smirked. 'Oh really? I was under the impression that I would. Write a nice detailed letter of your activity here at Hogwarts...'

'OKAY! I'M SORRY!' Fred burst out, looking irritated.

'That's better!' I praised, patting his head like a dog. 'Good Freddie!' Fred put me down to retrieve my broomstick, grumbling all the way about "wretched, horrible, no good little-" something.

'Does anyone notice that the dog who always watches us ONLY watches Kal?' Abigail inquired, hopping off her broom shakily. 'It's - unnerving.'

'Relax Abbi,' I chuckled, tilting my head to look at this "dog-o-mystery." 'He's just a dog!'

'I don't trust him.' She said stubbornly, making me start laughing.

'You - Abby! It's a fudging dog, not a secret service agent! You don't trust this dog?'

'No, I don't.' Abby replied.

My eyebrows raised at her sullen expression, my lips twitched longingly. 'Is it all dogs you don't trust or that one in particular? Has this dog ever done anything to make you feel suspicious or-'

'Oh for Godric's sake! It's not so complex, it's only a dog!' Hollered Abigail's voice.

'That's what I said!' I muttered to the twins, who were trying in vain not to crack up.

'We have to name it!' George decided.

'Oh let the dog be! It's already suffered the unfair accusations from Abigail. It doesn't bee you two to deal with as well.' And with a hop; we were on our way back to the castle, the big black dog watching us with his big sad eyes the whole way.

 **A/N: So I guess people want these updates often so... here I am! YAY! Three guesses who that dog was. :) Y'all are hardcore fans, you'll know, right? This was a happy chapter, and sort of short, because the next few will probably be super long. I think I'm going to put out a new chapter every day or two until Prisoners of Azkaban is over. Anyways, REVIEW, follow/fave!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	20. Chapter 18

Lights shone brighter, I smiled wider, life was simply happier with the twins back in my life. Normality of some kind had returned to the group at last, meaning all of us had seemingly forgotten about the entire Mirror episode. Some part of me hoped that after seeing what a jealous brat I was Fred would lose interest in me. As far as I knew, it had worked.

In all the drama, I had almost forgotten about the Quidditch Cup against Slytherin, our deciding match. No pressure there, but if we lost it would forever haunt us and Oliver would cry his eyes out. No pressure though. With my heart in my gut, I hurriedly ate with Angelina, Fred, and George, before we ran down to the pitch. Oliver instructed us to get changed first thing when we got there.

The atmosphere was tense as anything, nobody speaking, not even Fred as much as I could hear. Angelina kept muttering the plays under her breath and looking at Oliver from behind the door of the girl's changing area. Another thing was that if we didn't win, Angelina would blame herself for the entire school year remainder and possibly longer, and feel like she had failed in front of Oliver which was worth than death itself in her eyes. That girl ADORED him.

Once we were changed, he came out. 'Okay, it's time, let's go.' With a look at Angelina's worried face, he leant in towards us with a straight face and whispered. 'Don't worry, we'll win. We're the better team.'

'And here are the Gryffindors!" yelled Lee from his commentator box, who was acting as commentator as usual. "Potter, Potter, Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley, Weasley, and Wood. Widely acknowledged as the best team Hogwarts has seen in a good few years -" the Slytherin team started Booing from their posts, I stuck my tongue out to Steven Goyle, who was chanting something along the lines of "DOWN WITH POTTER." I'd show him down with Potter!

'And here come the Slytherin team, led by Captain Flint. He's made some changes in the lineup and seems to be going for size rather than skill!' Lee commented.

After the captains shook hands, the whistle blew and we were all off, leaving only dust and grime in our wakes. Once I was up there the anxiety fell off me: this was where I belonged. Seated on this broom, watching the stadium.

'And it's Gryffindor in possession, Kalmine Potter of Gryffindor with the Quaffle, heading straight for the Slytherin goal posts, looking good, Kal! Argh, no - Quaffle intercepted by Warrington, Warrington of Slytherin tearing UP the field - WHAM! - nice Bludger work there by George Weasley, Warrington drops the Quaffle, it's caught by Johnson, Gryffindor back in possession, come on, Angelina - nice swerve around Montague - duck, Angelina, that's a Bludger! SHE SCORES! TEN-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!'

I screamed my approval that I doubted she could hear as we fanned out once more. Angelina was busy punching the air and waving at the crowds below her when - "OUCH!" She cried, fumbling on her broom as Marcus Flint ran into her.

'Sorry, I didn't see her!'

Fred threw his beater club at the back of Marcus's head, which made his nose begin to bleed. I understood what had made him do it, Angelina was one of us, and the Weasley twins protected their own. Angelina shot him a panicked look that I backed up before zooming off as Madame Hooch intercepted our little brawl. We ended up getting a penalty, which I flew forward to take, feeling the pressure mount onto my shoulders.

"Come on, Kal!" yelled Lee into the silence that had descended on the crowd. It wasn't helping really, it just made me even more nervous. I flew forward with the slick quaffle in my hand… and shot. "YES! SHE'S BEATEN THE KEEPER! TWENTY-ZERO TO GRYFFINDOR!"

Oliver saved Flint's penalty, resulting in cheers and boos alike.

The game went on this way, Katie scoring once, but only for a few minutes. Until Lee interrupted, but I could hardly focus on his entertaining commentary because of my brother. He was speeding towards the Slytherin end. Had he seen the Snitch? Gods, I hoped so, but Malfoy was on his tail!

"THIRTY-ZERO! TAKE THAT, YOU DIRTY, CHEATING -"

"Jordan, if you can't commentate in an unbiased way -"

"I'm telling it like it is, Professor!"

Harry almost got hit by two bludgers. I was outraged. If those gorilla's hurt Harry again, they were going to be the one's in the hospital wing by the end of this game. To make it worse, Slytherin soon scored, making Lee swear into the megaphone and Madame Hooch try to pull it out of his fingers. Somehow, I wasn't feeling up to laughing about it when these Snakes were playing by far the dirtiest game they ever had with us.

Fred and George swooped around Katie in case the Slytherin team decided to pull anything funny, since she had just scored a point, letting them hit Oliver in the stomach with both bludgers. Angelina let out a cry from behind me, I shouted a profanity into the air at those cheaters, as Wood tumbled through the air, clutching his broom so to not fall off. We got a penalty, at least.

Angelina scored the penalty to my relief, and Fred gave me a miniscule nod towards Warrington. Making a little gesturing movement with his arm, he knocked a bludger at him. And then I understood and rushed to get the dropped Quaffle, shooting it into the Slytherin goal post. Seventy-ten. I pushed my arms above my head and flew around in victory, only to nearly be hit by a bludger, which sobered me up. Again, I had to shake my head viciously at George to stop him from throwing his beater bat once more and getting us more penalties.

The pressure was all on Harry for the moment, I could only imagine what he must have been feeling. Suddenly, he was off, only to have Malfoy hanging off his broom.

THAT SNAKE! It was all I could do to keep Fred in check.

The scene would have been funny had it not been so maddening for us all. Lee was shouting into the megaphone and McGonagall was shaking her fist and shouting like Lee. Katie took our penalty, but her hands were shaking and she missed by feet. This was bad, they were messing us up!

Harry and Malfoy were at it again. My eyes followed Angelina as she neared the goalpost and scored flawlessly. How did she have any doubts that she was our best chaser? She was by a mile, she could have been a professional, in my opinion, and would be when she grew up. I just knew it.

The stadium erupted around me suddenly, nearly throwing me off my broom with the shock of the sudden noise, until I saw Harry clutching the little golden ball. The snitch. WE HAD WON THE CUP!

Wood got to my brother first, openly sobbing into his shirt like the baby he was, Fred and George next were piling onto him in a group hug, Katie, Angelina, and I were all shouting "WE WON THE CUP!" in his ear and struggling to lift him. The pride in me was enormous. My brother had won us the cup, not someone else. Fred threw me over his shoulders in victory, and I didn't bother struggling, since I was so happy, so I just screamed some more in his ear.

There was nothing anybody could do to bring us down, even though we had long stopped flying.

 **A/N: I'm so sorry for the awfully boring and short chapter, I'll be updating straight after this, I swear! It's just that what I have planned next is long, so I need to separate my original one chapter into two! Review anyways, or wait five minutes for me to get Chapter 19 up! Okay bye and see you in five minutes!**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	21. Chapter 19

The high from winning the cup lasted all through the week. Maybe it was just the after party that was hanging onto us. THAT had been wild, totally and completely. Fred and George had raided the kitchens so the House-Elves would be making up for it for weeks, Angelina had ended up hanging from the ceiling somehow, Wood was sobbing the whole time, Katie was piss drunk, and I was busy congratulating my brother every second word. It was as if he were embarrassed to have won for us! He was such a shy little Seeker. Or a silly one, whichever he preferred.

It wasn't until later that my week truly became one of the best of my life. Dumbledore approached me with a slight smile on his face, always a good sign.

'You'll be very happy to know that Nilixa was sent back to her time yesterday. She was apprehended by some of our most skilled Auror's at the Ministry.' Without a second word, he walked off, leaving me to beam at the walls.

She was gone. Really and truly I was safe for the time being.

I wanted to tell someone. It was a common time when I wished more than anything to just have parents so I could write a happy letter home or hug my mother, talk to my father about the Quidditch Cup instead of being shut into my room at the Dursley house. For some reason, Professor Lupin popped into my mind.

He would want to know, right? I thought so. It was sort of late to be visiting a teacher, but if I hurried I could make it, maybe. Whatever, I was going to risk it.

I shuffled down the hallways at top speed, abandoning my class books (as if I needed them anyway. Exams were over!) on the way. Popping into his classroom with a bright smile was a disappointement. Nobody was there for some reason. Guess I would have to go now.

Why did I never have any adults who really cared? I wish that I understood why of all people, the bad luck was always coming to me and my brother. Whoever controlled these chain of events had a twisted sense of humour, let me tell you that. More twisted than Lee Jordan's! (Okay, maybe not THAT twisted.)

It wasn't until I turned to leave that a familiar parchment on the desk caught my eye. It couldn't be! But it was, the Marauder's map that belonged to Fred and George! How did he come to possess it again? Come to think of it, I hadn't seen it at all since before Christmas… that wasn't important. I was going to go and return it like a good girl and then tell him what I had come for. Until I saw four moving dots. _Harry Potter. Ronald Weasley. Hermione Granger. Peter Pettigrew._

WHAT? Peter Pettigrew was dead, a victim of Sirius Black! Was somebody carrying his corpse? Would it even show on the map? The map was never wrong so I didn't even question it. The next thing I saw made me catch my breath. Right underneath the Whomping Willow, where my brother and Hermione were headed and where Ron was, read Sirius Black.

There was no time to lose, I convinced myself, no time to get Dumbledore like I should have. I simply grabbed my wand in a burst of speed and ran out after them.

The night was cool and fresh, reeking of fear for some reason, and sobs echoed out across the lake, giant ones. From Hagrid's hut. Normally I would've investigated but there was no time for that now. I had to go save Harry and his friends from a murderer.

There was a passage under the whomping willow I had seen, but had never been sure how to get to it until I saw it still and the gap open. They didn't realize I could hear them underneath the cloak they wore as I followed them silently, thankful they didn't turn around. I had to do this QUIETLY so Black didn't hear.

Until they took off running, and I had no choice but to follow them. When I finally caught up, all I heard was Ron shriek something… something about a trap (really Ron? I DIDN'T NOTICE.) and an Animagus before Black himself appeared, not noticing where I stood in the shadows of the tunnel.

He was filthy. A mass of black hair that once must've been attractive cascaded roughly down his shoulders, and his eyes were desperate and animalistic. 'Expelliarmus!' He croaked, disarming my brother. My first instinct, to shout, was taken over by something hidden. A sense of logic. If I gave myself away I would be overpowered. I had to do this with stealth and I only had one shot. My thoughts whirled as I just listened.

"I thought you'd come and help your friend," he said hoarsely. 'Your father would have done the same for me. Brave of you not to run for a teacher. I'm grateful...it will make everything much easier..."

The taunt was awful and under the belt. How dare he speak of my father after he betrayed him? It took everything I had to not shout right then. "No, Harry!" Hermione gasped.

"If you want to kill Harry, you'll have to kill us too!" Ron said though the effort of standing upright was draining him of still more color, the telltale sway giving him away as he talked.

"Lie down," Black said quietly to Ron. "You will damage that leg even more."

"Did you hear me?" Ron said. "You'll have to kill all three of us!"

"There'll be only one murder here tonight," said Black with an awful Grin. Harry. He was right that there would only be one though: his own. If I had anything to say.

"Why's that? Didn't care last time, did you? Didn't mind slaughtering all those Muggles to get at Pettigrew...What's the matter, gone soft in Azkaban?" Harry said stupidly.

"Harry!" Hermione whimpered. "Be quiet!"

"HE KILLED MY MUM AND DAD!" Harry roared, lunging forwards.

Harry jumped on the man and punched the side of his head, bringing him down against the wall, losing any advantage they had previously had. Black's free hand had found Harry's throat

"No," he hissed, "I've waited too long -"

Then he saw Hermione's foot swing out of nowhere. For the first time, I felt respect. Black let go of Harry with a grunt of pain; Ron had thrown himself on Black's wand hand and Harry heard a faint clatter as he reached for it.

He fought free of the tangle of bodies and saw his own wand rolling across the floor; he threw himself toward it at the same time I almost did, knowing it was not yet the perfect time to reveal myself. I wanted to see how well they would handle this.

Black was sprawled at the bottom of the wall. His thin chest rose and fell rapidly as he watched Harry walking slowly nearer, his wand pointing straight at Black's heart.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" he whispered. I hoped Harry would.

"You killed my parents," said Harry in a shaky voice, but his wand hand quite steady.

"I don't deny it," he said very quietly. "But if you knew the whole story."

"The whole story? You sold them to Voldemort. That's all I need to know."

"You've got to listen to me," Black said, and there was a note of urgency in his voice now. "You'll regret it if you don't...You don't understand..."

"I understand a lot better than you think, you never heard her, did you? My mum...trying to stop Voldemort killing me...and you did that...you did it..."

Hermione's cat settled on the man's chest.

"Get off," he murmured, trying to push Crookshanks off him.

"WE'RE UP HERE!" Hermione screamed suddenly. "WE'RE UP HERE - SIRIUS BLACK - QUICK!" I strained and heard what she meant: footsteps. Somebody was walking!

Footsteps continued thundering, shaking me, scaring me out of my wits. I could only hope for somebody good, otherwise it was time to get out. I dreaded leaving this place, where I was somewhat safe.

The door of the room burst open in a shower of red sparks and Harry wheeled around as Professor Lupin came hurtling into the room, his face bloodless, his wand raised and ready. His eyes flickered over Ron, lying on the floor, over Hermione, cowering next to the door, to Harry, standing there with his wand covering Black, and then to Black himself, crumpled and bleeding at Harry's feet. Lupin! He was here and he would help!

"Expelliarmus!" Lupin shouted.

Like I had thought, Lupin shouted to disarm, but not Black. My brother. _What is going on?_

"Where is he, Sirius?" Lupin demanded. "But then..." Lupin muttered, staring at Black so intently it seemed he was trying to read his mind, "...why hasn't he shown himself before now? Unless" - Lupin's eyes suddenly widened, as though he was seeing something beyond Black, something none of the rest could see, "- unless he was the one...unless you switched... without telling me?"

"Professor," Harry interrupted loudly, "what's going on -?"

I never got to wonder more about what was going on, actually, because Lupin lowered his wand -what?- and walked towards the killer, arms open for an embrace. He called Sirius Black his old friend as they hugged, and my stomach successfully jumped into my throat. It couldn't be. My professor, someone I trusted, someone I subconsciously looked up to, was with him. He was betraying us.

Just another day at Hogwarts.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Hermione screamed. Neither did I.

Lupin let go of Black and turned to her. She had raised herself off the floor and was pointing at Lupin, wild-eyed. "You - you -"

"Hermione -"

"¨You and him!"

"Hermione, calm down -"

"I didn't tell anyone!" Hermione shrieked. "I've been covering up for you -"

"Hermione, listen to me, please" Lupin shouted, desperation leaking his scoundrel voice. "I can explain -"

"I trusted you," Harry shouted at Lupin, his voice out of control with violent shaking and wavers, "and all the time you've been his friend!"

"You're wrong," said Lupin. "I haven't been Sirius's friend, but I am now - Let me explain..."

"NO!" Hermione screamed. "Harry, don't trust him, he's been helping Black get into the castle, he wants you dead too - he's a werewolf!"

Silence broke out in perfect harmony, nobody daring to breath, not even Black. Harry and Ron looked so terrified, it was all I could do not to go and hug them both right then. First I had to hear it for myself though. I listened intently as he spoke.

"Not at all up to your usual standard, Hermione. Only one out of three, I'm afraid. I have not been helping Sirius get into the castle and I certainly don't want Harry dead. But I won't deny that I am a werewolf."

That was it! He had lied, just like everyone besides these three children they wanted dead, and if this wasn't the time, I didn't know there was one at all. Without doubts, I raised my wand and shouted, my voice ringing through the room.

"EXPELLIARMUS!"

Both wands of Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, the betraying liar he was, came flying towards me, and I caught them in my wrist. Usually it would have been a big thing for me to catch anything so small, but I wasn't feeling very excited for some odd reason. Maybe it was my professor and godfather were trying to kill my brother.

'Kal!' Cried Harry, relief tainting his voice. 'Sirius Black! Lupic is with him, he-'

'I know.' I said icily. 'I heard.'

'Kalmine-' began Lupin, but I wasn't about to hear him out. I whirled to face him, wand drawn and pointed at him.

'How could you? HOW COULD YOU?' I shouted, feeling the beginning of hot tears burning in my eyes.

'Let me explain-' he tried.

'NO! THERE. IS. NOTHING TO EXPLAIN!' Then I turned to face Hermione. 'Hermione, how long have you known about him?'

"Ages," Hermione whispered. "Since I did Professor Snape's essay."

"He'll be delighted," said Lupin with a straight face, betraying anger slightly. "He assigned that essay hoping someone would realize what my symptoms meant... Did you check the lunar chart and realize that I was always ill at the full moon? Or did you realize that the Boggart changed into the moon when it saw me?"

"Both," Hermione said quietly.

"You're the cleverest witch of your age I've ever met, Hermione." I pretended that didn't sting. I was standing right there! And he not only betrayed us, he insulted me! Even if Hermione was smarter than me.

"I'm not," Hermione whispered. "If I'd been a bit cleverer, I'd have told everyone what you are!"

"But they already know," said Lupin. "At least, the staff do."

"Dumbledore hired you when he knew you were a werewolf," Ron gasped. "Is he mad?"

"Some of the staff thought so," said Lupin. "He had to work very hard to convince certain teachers that I'm trustworthy."

"It looks like he was wrong, then!" I hollered at him.

"YOU'VE BEEN HELPING HIM ALL ALONG!" Backed up Harry bravely.

"I have not been helping Sirius," said Lupin. "If you'll give me a chance, I'll explain. Look -"

He separated Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's wands and threw each back to its owner; Harry caught his expertly, I didn't take my wand off of him and Black for a single moment.

"If you haven't been helping him," he said, with a furious glance at Black, "how did you know he was here?"

"The map," said Lupin. "The Marauder's Map. I was in my office examining it -"

"That's how I saw you guys! I went to find Profe- Lupin, and it was open on his desk!" I interrupted breathlessly.

"You know how to work it?" Harry said suspiciously.

"Of course I know how to work it," said Lupin, waving his hand impatiently. "I helped write it. I'm Moony - that was my friends' nickname for me at school."

"I forgot to tell you, Harry." I whispered. "I was so stupid! I should have never trusted him, I'm sorry…"

"How does she know about the Map?" Black croaked, making me move away and aim my wand firmly on him now.

"It was mine, mine and the Weasley twins, before Lupin somehow got it. For years. And I didn't even realize until this year!" I established. Black looked absolutely shocked by this.

"The WEASLEY twins?"

"How do you know about my brothers?" Ron demanded, blood draining from his face as he spoke.

"I watched you all. I watched them in my Animagus form."

"The dog!" My face scrunched up. "Oh Merlin. How stupid of me…"

"The important thing is, I was watching the map carefully this evening, because I had an idea that you, Ron, and Hermione might try and sneak out of the castle to visit Hagrid before his Hippogriff was executed. And I was right, wasn't I?"

He had started to pace up and down, looking at them. Little patches of dust rose at his feet. I had not been aware of Buckbeak's execution, that it was today.

"You might have been wearing your father's old cloak, Harry-"

"How d'you know about the cloak?"

"The number of times I saw James disappearing under it..." said Lupin, waving an impatient hand again. "The point is, even if you're wearing an Invisibility Cloak, you still show up on the Marauder's Map. I watched you cross the grounds and enter Hagrid's hut. Twenty minutes later, you left Hagrid, and set off back toward the castle. But you were now accompanied by somebody else."

"What?" said Harry. "No, we weren't!"

I couldn't believe my eyes,' said Lupin pacing even more. "I thought the map must be malfunctioning. How could he be with you?"

"No one was with us!" said Harry.

"And then I saw another dot, moving fast toward you, labeled Sirius Black...I saw him collide with you; I watched as he pulled two of you into the Whomping Willow -"

"One of us!" Ron said angrily.

"No, Ron," said Lupin. "Two of you. Do you think I could have a look at the rat?"

"What?" said Ron. "What's Scabbers got to do with it?"

"Everything," said Lupin. "Could I see him, please?"

Ron hesitated, then put a hand inside his robes. Scabbers emerged, thrashing desperately; Ron had to seize his long bald tail to stop him escaping. That rat had always been ugly so I didn't care all that much, but how dare he have the balls to ask for it after all this, when we were armed?

"What?" Ron said again, holding Scabbers close to him, looking scared. "What's my rat got to do with anything?"

"That's not a rat," croaked Sirius Black suddenly.

"What d'you mean - of course he's a rat -"

"No, he's not," said Lupin quietly. "He's a wizard."

"An Animagus," said Black, "by the name of Peter Pettigrew."

And then my heart stopped.

"You're both mental!"

"Ridiculous!"

They pounced on the opportunity to correct the two of them. My thoughts whirled around in my head, the storm beginning to brew already, since I knew this could be the truth. It had to be. I had seen Peter Pettigrew as clear as could be on the Map. The Marauder's map did not lie, ever, so it had to be the truth. And the truth stunk.

'Peter Pettigrew is dead, Black killed him years ago!' Harry accused. I waved him behind me quickly, seeing the near murderous look on Sirius Black's face. This was beyond terrifying. The sheer reality that I was looking an Azkaban escaped murderer in the face, battling for our lives, the fate of them held by my wand tip, was surreal.

'Harry, I saw it on the map.' I said.

'The map was wrong!' He replied desperately. 'Kal, you can't believe a word they say, he's a murderer! He'll kill you just like he did our parents!'

'Harry, the map is never wrong! We owned it for years and not once has it lied to us - I think they might be telling the truth.'

'Don't trust them!'

'I don't trust them! I just think that it'd be a good idea to at least consider their theory! What's the worst that could happen with them wandless, and us all armed, anyway?' I pressed, seeing Harry's doubt reflected in my own. I was making an impact.

"Sirius, NO!" Lupin yelled, launching himself forwards and dragging Black away from Ron again, "WAIT! You can't do it just like that - they need to understand - we've got to explain!"

"We can explain afterwards!" snarled Black, trying to throw Lupin off. One hand was still clawing the air as it tried to reach Scabbers, who was squealing like a pig in his hands.

"They've - got - a - right - to - know - everything!" Lupin panted, still trying to restrain Black. "Ron's kept him as a pet! There are parts of it even I don't understand, and Harry - you owe Harry the truth, Sirius!"

He stopped fighting against him momentarily and something close to regret filled his eyes, until he looked at Scabbers - or Pettigrew, and then it was a look of pure loathing and hatred.

"All right, then," Black said, without taking his eyes off the rat.

"Tell them whatever you like. But make it quick, Remus. I want to commit the murder I was imprisoned for..."

"You're nutters, both of you," said Ron looking at Harry and Hermione for support. "I've had enough of this. I'm off."

"You're going to hear me out, Ron," he said quietly. "Just keep a tight hold on Peter while you listen."

"HE'S NOT PETER, HE'S SCABBERS!"

"There were witnesses who saw Pettigrew die," Harry said. "A whole street full of them..."

"They didn't see what they thought they saw!" said Black savagely, still watching Scabbers struggling in Ron's hands.

"Everyone thought Sirius killed Peter," said Lupin, nodding. "I believed it myself - until I saw the map tonight. Because the Marauder's map never lies...Peter's alive. Ron's holding him, Harry."

It didn't make sense any other way. How could he have escaped the wrath of an Azkaban convicted man? It was impossible, totally impossible, but some part of me wanted to believe they were innocent men. Maybe it was stupid, but it was true.

Then Hermione spoke, in a trembling, would-be calm sort of voice, as though trying to will Professor Lupin to talk sensibly.

"But Professor Lupin...Scabbers can't be Pettigrew...it just can't be true, you know it can't..."

"Why can't it be true?" Lupin demanded with equal calm.

"Because... because people would know if Peter Pettigrew had been an Animagus. We did Animagi in class with Professor McGonagall. And I looked them up when I did my homework - the Ministry of Magic keeps tabs on witches and wizards who can become animals; there's a register showing what animal they become, and their markings and things...and I went and looked Professor McGonagall up on the register, and there have been only seven Animagi this century, and Pettigrew's name wasn't on the list."

"Right again, Hermione!" he said. "But the Ministry never knew that here used to be three unregistered Animagi running around Hogwarts."

"If you're going to tell them the story, get a move on, Remus," said Black, who was still watching Scabbers's every desperate move. "I've waited twelve years, I'm not going to wait much longer."

"All right...but you'll need to help me, Sirius," said Lupin, "I only know how it began..."

A sound came from the landing, drawing our attention momentarily. I took a slight step away from it before returning to look at Lupin and Black. "I don't see anyone. On with the story."

"This place is haunted!" said Ron.

"It's not,' said Lupin, still looking at the door in a puzzled way. "The Shrieking Shack was never haunted...The screams and howls the villagers used to hear were made by me."

"I as a very small boy when I received the bite. My parents tried everything, but in those days there was no cure. The potion that Professor Snape has been making for me is a very recent discovery. It makes me safe, you see. As long as I take it in the week, preceding the full moon, I keep my mind when I transform...I'm able to curl up in my office, a harmless wolf, and wait for the moon to wane again.

"Before the Wolfsbane Potion was discovered, however, I became a fully fledged monster once a month. It seemed impossible that I would be able to come to Hogwarts. Other parents weren't likely to want their children exposed to me.

"But then Dumbledore became Headmaster, and he was sympathetic. He said that as long as we took certain precautions, there was no reason I shouldn't come to school..." Lupin sighed, and looked directly at Harry. "I told you, months ago, that the Whomping Willow was planted the year I came to Hogwarts. The truth is that it was planted because I came to Hogwarts. This house" - Lupin looked miserably around the room, - "the tunnel that leads to it - they were built for my use. Once a month, I was smuggled out of the castle, into this place, to transform. The tree was placed at the tunnel mouth to stop anyone coming across me while I was dangerous."

"My transformations in those days were - were terrible. It is very painful to turn into a werewolf. I was separated from humans to bite, so I bit and scratched myself instead. The villagers heard the noise and the screaming and thought they were hearing particularly violent spirits. Dumbledore encouraged the rumor...Even now, when the house has been silent for years, the villagers don't dare approach it..."

"But apart from my transformations, I was happier than I had ever been in my life. For the first time ever, I had friends, three great friends. Sirius Black...Peter Pettigrew...and, of course, your father, Harry - James Potter."

"Now, my three friends could hardly fail to notice that I disappeared once a month. I made up all sorts of stories. I told them my mother was ill, and that I had to go home to see her...I was terrified they would desert me the moment they found out what I was. But of course, they, like you, Hermione, worked out the truth..."

"And they didn't desert me at all. Instead, they did something for me that would make my transformations not only bearable, but the best times of my life. They became Animagi."

"My dad too?" said Harry, astounded as I felt. Our dad - an Animagus? My parents were so awesome… and Black had killed them. The anger I had felt at the beginning was seeping slowly away to confusion. I summoned more up.

"Yes, indeed," said Lupin. "It took them the best part of three years to work out how to do it. Your father and Sirius here were the cleverest students in the school, and lucky they were, because the Animagus transformation can go horribly wrong - one reason the Ministry keeps a close watch on those attempting to do it. Peter needed all the help he could get from James and Sirius. Finally, in our fifth year, they managed it. They could each turn into a different animal at will."

"But how did that help you?" said Hermione, sounding puzzled, more so than Harry even.

"They couldn't keep me company as humans, so they kept me company as animals," said Lupin. "A werewolf is only a danger to people. They sneaked out of the castle every month under James's Invisibility Cloak. They transformed...Peter, as the smallest, could slip beneath the Willow's attacking branches and touch the knot that freezes it. They would then slip down the tunnel and join me. Under their influence, I became less dangerous. My body was still wolfish, but my mind seemed to become less so while I was with them."

"Hurry up, Remus," snarled Black. He looked like the hungriest man in the world. I say this without referring to his lanky frame.

"I'm getting there, Sirius, I'm getting there...well, highly exciting possibilities were open to us now that we could all transform. Soon we were leaving the Shrieking Shack and roaming the school grounds and the village by night. Sirius and James transformed into such large animals, they were able to keep a werewolf in check. I doubt whether any Hogwarts students ever found out more about the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade than we did... And that's how we came to write the Marauder's Map, and sign it with our nicknames. Sirius is Padfoot. Peter is Wormtail. James was Prongs."

"I know your names, I just never understood why," I muttered, trying to piece it all together in my mind. "But wouldn't it be dangerous to have a werewolf loose, no offence, Lupin?"

"A thought that still haunts me," said Lupin heavily. "And there were near misses, many of them. We laughed about them afterwards. We were young, thoughtless - carried away with our own cleverness."

"I sometimes felt guilty about betraying Dumbledore's trust, of course...he had admitted me to Hogwarts when no other headmaster would have done so, and he had no idea I was breaking the rules he had set down for my own and others' safety. He never knew I had led three fellow students into becoming Animagi illegally. But I always managed to forget my guilty feelings every time we sat down to plan our next month's adventure. And I haven't changed..."

Lupin's face had hardened, and there was self-disgust in his voice. "All this year, I have been battling with myself, wondering whether I should tell Dumbledore that Sirius was an Animagus. But I didn't do it. Why? Because I was too cowardly. It would have meant admitting that I'd betrayed his trust while I was at school, admitting that I'd led others along with me...and Dumbledore's trust has meant everything to me. He let me into Hogwarts as a boy, and he gave me a job when I have been shunned all my adult life, unable to find paid work because of what I am. And so I convinced myself that Sirius was getting into the school using dark arts he learned from Voldemort, that being an Animagus had nothing to do with it...so, in a way, Snape's been right about me all along."

"Snape?" said Black harshly, taking his eyes off Scabbers; for the first time in minutes and looking up at Lupin. "What's Snape got to do with it?"

"He's here, Sirius," said Lupin heavily. "He's teaching here as well." He looked up at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"Professor Snape was at school with us. He fought very hard against my appointment to the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. He has been telling Dumbledore all year that I am not to be trusted. He has his reasons...you see, Sirius here played a trick on him which nearly killed him, a trick which involved me -"

"It served him right," he sneered. "Sneaking around, trying to find out what we were up to...hoping he could get us expelled..."

"Severus was very interested in where I went every month. We were in the same year, you know, and we - er - didn't like each other very much. He especially disliked James. Jealous, I think, of James's talent on the Quidditch field...anyway Snape had seen me crossing the grounds with Madam Pomfrey one evening as she led me toward the Whomping Willow to transform. Sirius thought it would be - er - amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course, Snape tried it - if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf - but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life...Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."

"So that's why Snape doesn't like you," said Harry slowly, "because he thought you were in on the joke?"

"That's right," sneered a cold voice from the wall behind Lupin.

For what felt like the millionth time that night, my heart jumped and started beating double it's usual speed. Where ALL my professors going to get involved? Maybe McGonagall was in Azkaban with him and knew about Scabbers, while we were at it!

Severus Snape was pulling off the Invisibility Cloak, his wand pointing directly at Lupin.

 **A/N:**

 **WOW what a long chapter! I am so disappointed in myself this one, actually, since it is almost all a repeat of what happens in the books. Boring as hell, huh? But anyway, by chapter 21 we should be done with repeating everything, I promise. I was wrong when I said in a previous chapter that this would be the last chapter for Prisoners of Azkaban: expect at least four or five more.**

 **Any reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	22. Chapter 20

Faintly, a scream rang in my ears that I recognized as Hermione's. Nothing came out of my own mouth except air as it hung open, collecting dust. Not Snape, not know, not ever. I could not believe he had stolen Harry's cloak, either! He was a professor, for the love of Salazar, even if he was a spiteful old codger. What right did someone who was supposedly a good influence to the school doing stealing from children?

"I found this at the base of the Whomping Willow, very useful Potter, I thank you." He threw the cloak carelessly to the side, without taking his wand of Lupin. And I know I had been perfectly ready to perform the Avada Kedavra on him myself less than ten minutes ago, but now that _Snape_ was the one interrupting, it felt different. Agreeing with anything he wanted felt wrong.

"You're wondering, perhaps, how I knew you were here?" he said, his blacker than the night sky outside eyes glittering. "I've just been to your office, Lupin. You forgot to take your potion tonight, so I took a gobletful along. And very lucky I did...lucky for me, I mean. Lying on your desk was a certain map. One glance at it told me all I needed to know. I saw you running along this passageway and out of sight."

"Severus -" Lupin began, but Snape was quickly on his speech, to my dismay.

"I've told the headmaster again and again that you're helping your old friend Black into the castle, Lupin, and here's the proof. Not even I dreamed you would have the nerve to use this old place as your hideout -"

"Severus, you're making a mistake," said Lupin urgently. "You haven't heard everything - I can explain - Sirius is not here to kill Harry -"

"Two more for Azkaban tonight, I shall be interested to see how Dumbledore takes this...He was quite convinced you were harmless, you know, Lupin...a tame werewolf -"

"You fool," said Lupin softly. "Is a schoolboy grudge worth putting an innocent man back inside Azkaban?"

Without warning, snakelike cords flew from Professor Snape's wand and coiled themselves around Lupin, binding him tightly. He could not make a sound, move, do anything without these things removed. As much as I hated to say it, we needed him against Snape. Snape would do nothing to stop these men, I knew that much, he hated them as much as Harry did Snape. The only person in this room qualified enough to go into a duel with him and win as far as I knew was our Dark Arts professor who was currently on the ground, binded. Without a wand, since I had stupidly taken it in the first place. _Idiot, I'm an idiot._

Black started towards Snape. "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will." Snape had his wand at Black's face. We were truly trapped now, without any adults. Merlin, I was the most qualified person to deal with him now, being the oldest and most experienced. Did it count if I was mentally five? I would have to ask the twins if I lived through this.

"Professor Snape - it wouldn't hurt to hear what they've got to say, w-would it?" Hermione had spoken. Shame coursed through me. I was the oldest: it should be me to risk the trouble of it.

"Miss Granger, you are already facing suspension from this school," Snape spat. "You, Potter, and Weasley are out-of-bounds, in the company of a convicted murderer and a werewolf. For once in your life, hold your tongue."

"But if - if there was a mistake -"

"KEEP QUIET, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Snape shouted, looking suddenly quite deranged. "DON'T TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" A few sparks shot out of the end of his wand, which was still pointed at Black's face. Hermione fell silent finally.

"Vengeance is very sweet," Snape breathed at Black. "How I hoped I would be the one to catch you..."

"The joke's on you again, Severus," Black snarled. "As long as this boy brings his rat up to the castle" - he jerked his head at Ron - "I'll come quietly."

"Up to the castle?" said Snape silkily. "I don't think we need to go that far. All I have to do is call the Dementors once we get out of the Willow. They'll be very pleased to see you, Black...pleased enough to give you a little kiss, I daresay."

"I want to hear him out first." I said strongly, surprised that my voice, while slightly shaky, was strong, forceful even. Not at all like I felt.

His eyes narrowed to mere black slits in the dim light. "Foolishness. There will be no hearing of an Azkaban prisoner."

"That's YOUR opinion."

"AS YOUR PROFESSOR IT IS MY OPINION THAT MATTERS, MISS POTTER." He shrieked, spit spewing from his mouth. I not so subtly wiped my face off. "YOU WILL LISTEN. I EXPECTED THIS OF YOUR INSOLENT BROTHER, BUT PERHAPS THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER - I SEE NOW THAT EVERYONE IN YOUR FAMILY IS JUST AS THOUGHTLESS AND STUPID!"

I scowled at the full grown man screaming in front of me, not missing the look of terror Lupin shot me from behind a gag, or the desperation Sirius's face held as it looked at me, the only thing left for them.

"Nice tantrum," I said. "Now can you stop _spitting on me_ and let me listen? The story was just getting important when you walked in."

With a shriek of indignation, he opened his mouth to rant again, being cut off by a sharp unnatural sounding laugh from Black. This man did not look like the kind of man who even was capable of a laugh, but there he was, a delighted look clearly etched on his face.

"I knew - I _knew_ \- that anyone who spent so much time with those wretched Weasley boys couldn't show any reason, or any signs of intelligence. Have you spent so much time with Jordan and your other friends that you've lost your ability to think clearly?" He demanded, making my scowl deepen considerably. Sure, it was all and well for me to insult them on a regular basis, but not him. We were all so close, it was like a family, and family loyalty went a long way.

"There is nothing wrong with the twins, or Lee, or Angelina, or Katie! Or any of the others, in fact! The only thing WRONG RIGHT NOW is that you won't let us listen because you're scared that it'll be the truth, and we'll stop putting up with your bullshit!"

Snape looked like he might explode right then and there. But it didn't end then, because he shot a curse at me, which I narrowly dodged. Harry stepped up suddenly.

"YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Harry yelled. "JUST BECAUSE THEY MADE A FOOL OF YOU AT SCHOOL YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN -"

"SILENCE! I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" Snape shrieked, looking madder than ever. "Like father, like son, Potter! I have just saved your neck; you should be thanking me on bended knee! You would have been well served if he'd killed you! You'd have died like your father, too arrogant to believe you might be mistaken in Black - now get out of the way, or I will make you. GET OUT OF THE WAY, POTTER!"

In a flash, I saw his wand was aimed at my little brother, and it became too personal to even speak of. The fact that he would barge in here, insult my friends, insult me, then insult my family spoke levels on its own.

In other words, this prick was going down.

' _Morsus Piaculum!'_ I shouted, hitting him with a stinging hex, just as I heard multiple voices around me holler out another spell The floor shook as all our spells hit him at the same time, his wand flying in a glorious arc only to crash at the floor by Black's feet. Before he could get any ideas, I lunged for it and drew away from him, so to not take risks.

'We attacked a teacher… we attacked a teacher...' whimpered Hermione, still shocked by her own defiance. THat made two of us, buster.

'Kal...' Lupin began, taking in Snape's appearance. His face had begun to swell already. 'What did you hit him with?'

'How do you know it was me?' I demanded.

'It's an advanced charm, about O.W.L levels, I'd say. It was you or Hermione. And Hermione would have never used a charm like that, much less on a teacher!'

'Fine, it was me. I hit him with… em… a stinging hex?' I saw Lupin raise a hand to his head tiredly.

'That was - oh never mind. Thank you Harry.'

"I'm still not saying I believe you," he told Lupin.

"Then it's time we offered you some proof," said Lupin. "You, boy - give me Peter, please. Now."

Ron clutched his pet closer to him in the face of Black and our professor, who I still didn't trust too much. OUt of the very corner of my eye I noticed Black take a step towards Ron, my basic little brother (it was part of the deal when you were my real brother's best friend, and you belonged to the family I spent so much time with). No way was he touching anybody in this room, nobody I cared about, at least. In a single, swift movement, I stepped in front of a terrified Ron and growled at Black who was still wandless.

'Don't you dare touch any of these children.' I aimed my wand straight at his chest, which was about where my head fell. (He was tall.) 'I don't want to, but if you give me a reason to, I will, and this time, nobody is going to stop me. I swear it.'

Something like surprise flitted over his face as I looked into it, then something completely different. Sadness and happiness mixed into one.

How could this man be a murderer?

'Before anything else, I want to know how you found my brother.' I asked, and Black nodded. Without pausing, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper I saw in the picture at the beginning of the year previous. The Weasley's family photo, with Scabbers perched on Ron's shoulder.

"How did you get this?" Lupin asked Black, seemingly awed by it. I was too focused on the fact that Black must have been a detective before he got arrested.

"Fudge," said Black. "When he came to inspect Azkaban last year, he gave me his paper. And there was Peter, on the front page on this boy's shoulder...I knew him at once...how many times had I seen him transform? And the caption said the boy would be going back to Hogwarts...to where Harry was..."

"My God," said Lupin softly, staring from Scabbers to the picture in the paper and back again. "His front paw..."

"What about it?" said Ron defiantly.

"He's got a toe missing," said Black.

"Of course," Lupin breathed. "So simple...so brilliant...he cut it off himself?"

"Just before he transformed," said Black. "When I cornered him, he yelled for the whole street to hear that I'd betrayed Lily and James. Then, before I could curse him, he blew apart the street with the wand behind his back, killed everyone within twenty feet of himself - and sped down into the sewer with the other rats..."

"Didn't you ever hear, Ron?" said Lupin. "The biggest bit of Peter they found was his finger."

"Look, Scabbers probably had a fight with another rat or something! He's been in my family for ages, right -"

"Twelve years, in fact," said Lupin. "Didn't you ever wonder why he was living so long?"

"We - we've been taking good care of him!" said Ron.

"Not looking too good at the moment, though, is he?" said Lupin. "I'd guess he's been losing weight ever since he heard Sirius was on the loose again..."

"He's been scared of that mad cat!" said Ron, nodding toward Crookshanks, who was still purring on the bed. Crookshanks was indeed mad. He had tried to bite me for no reason.

"This cat isn't mad," said Black hoarsely. He reached out a bony hand and stroked Crookshanks's fluffy head. "He's the most intelligent of his kind I've ever met. He recognized Peter for what he was right away. And when he met me, he knew I was no dog. It was a while before he trusted me...Finally, I managed to communicate to him what I was after, and he's been helping me..."

"What do you mean?" breathed Hermione.

"He tried to bring Peter to me, but couldn't...so he stole the passwords into Gryffindor Tower for me...As I understand it, he took them from a boy's bedside table..."

Oh shit. Neville Longbottom. I felt pity for the boy, since he had never misplaced them. He was just a victim of circumstance. And of an overly abusive grandmother, as far as I could tell. Grandma from hell, and whatnot.

"But Peter got wind of what was going on and ran for it." croaked Black. "This cat - Crookshanks, did you call him? - told me Peter had left blood on the sheets...I supposed he bit himself...Well, faking his own death had worked once."

"And why did he fake his death?" Harry said furiously. "Because he knew you were about to kill him like you killed my parents?"

"No," said Lupin, "Harry-"

"And now you've come to finish him off!"

"Yes, I have," said Black, with an evil look at Scabbers. Suddenly, it was very believable that he was a murderer. As in very, very believable. The hair on my arms stood up.

"Then I should've let Snape take you!" Harry shouted.

"Harry," said Lupin hurriedly, "don't you see? All this time we've thought Sirius betrayed your parents, and Peter tracked him down - but it was the other way around, don't you see? Peter betrayed your mother and father - Sirius tracked Peter down -"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" Harry yelled. "HE WAS THEIR SECRET-KEEPER! HE SAID SO BEFORE YOU TURNED UP. HE SAID HE KILLED THEM!"

"Harry...I as good as killed them," he croaked. "I persuaded Lily and James to change to Peter at the last moment, persuaded them to use him as Secret-Keeper instead of me...I'm to blame, I know it...The night they died, I'd arranged to check on Peter, make sure he was still safe, but when I arrived at his hiding place, he'd gone. Yet there was no sign of a struggle. It didn't feel right. I was scared. I set out for your parents' house straight away. And when I saw their house, destroyed, and their bodies...I realized what Peter must've done...what I'd done..."

He trailed off with a wince.

"Enough of this," said Lupin, and there was a steely note in his voice Harry had never heard before. "There's one certain way to prove what really happened. Ron, give me that rat."

"What are you going to do with him if I give him to you?" Ron asked Lupin tensely.

"Force him to show himself," said Lupin. "If he really is a rat, it won't hurt him."

Ron hesitated. Then at long last, he held out Scabbers and Lupin took him. Scabbers began to squeak without stopping, twisting and turning, his tiny black eyes bulging in his head. Would have been funny had it not been horrifying. "Ready, Sirius?" said Lupin.

Black had already retrieved Snape's wand from the bed. He approached Lupin and the struggling rat, and his wet eyes suddenly seemed to be burning in his face.

"Together?" he said quietly.

"I think so", said Lupin, holding Scabbers tightly in one hand and his wand in the other. "On the count of three. One - two - THREE!"

Scabbers began changing. First his head morphed horrifically, balding and pulling on his rat skin until it broke away to reveal an equally ugly human head. Then his body began to take shape, a distinct fat, teddy-bear shaped man with a buck-toothed face and ragged clothing. Nothing could begin to describe the stench that rose off him as he scuttled about on the floor, mid change.

"Well, hello, Peter," said Lupin pleasantly, as though rats frequently erupted into old school friends around him. "Long time, no see."

"S-Sirius...R-Remus..." Even Pettigrew's voice was squeaky. Ratlike. Again, his eyes darted toward the door. "My friends...my old friends..."

"We've been having a little chat, Peter, about what happened the night Lily and James died. You might have missed the finer points while you were squeaking around down there on the bed -"

"Remus, you don't believe him, do you...? He tried to kill me, Remus..."

"So we've heard," said Lupin, more coldly. "I'd like to clear up one or two little matters with you, Peter, if you'll be so -"

"He's come to try and kill me again!" Pettigrew squeaked suddenly, pointing at Black, using his middle finger, because his index was missing. It was hard to believe a word he was saying, because a surge of immediate dislike took me over from head to toe. "He killed Lily and James and now he's going to kill me too...You've got to help me, Remus..."

"No one's going to try and kill you until we've sorted a few things out," said Lupin.

"Sorted things out?" squealed Pettigrew, looking wildly about him once more, eyes taking in the boarded windows and, again, the only door he no doubt planned to escape from. "I knew he'd come after me! I knew he'd be back for me! I've been waiting for this for twelve years!"

"You knew Sirius was going to break out of Azkaban?" said Lupin, his brow furrowed. "When nobody has ever done it before?"

"He's got dark powers the rest of us can only dream of!" Pettigrew shouted shrilly. "How else did he get out of there? I suppose He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named taught him a few tricks!"

"Voldemort, teach me tricks?" he said.

Peter flinched as if Black had cast a spell on him just by using this name, and while I found it common, the other's leaned forward to see more carefully.

"What, scared to hear your old master's name?" said Black. "I don't blame you, Peter. His lot aren't very happy with you, are they?"

"Don't know what you mean, Sirius -" muttered Pettigrew, his breathing faster than ever. His whole face was shining with sweat now. Little beads of perspiration decorated the torn collar of his shirt as well.

"You haven't been hiding from me for twelve years," said Black. "You've been hiding from Voldemort's old supporters. I heard things in Azkaban, Peter...They all think you're dead, or you'd have to answer to them...I've heard them screaming all sorts of things in their sleep. Sounds like they think the double-crosser double-crossed them. Voldemort went to the Potters' on your information...and Voldemort met his downfall there. And not all Voldemort's supporters ended up in Azkaban, did they? There are still plenty out here, biding their time, pretending they've seen the error of their ways. If they ever got wind that you were still alive, Peter -"

"Don't know...what you're talking about..." said Pettigrew again, more shrilly than ever. He wiped his face on his sleeve and looked up at Lupin. "You don't believe this - this madness, Remus -"

"I must admit, Peter, I have difficulty in understanding why an innocent man would want to spend twelve years as a rat," said Lupin evenly.

"Innocent, but scared!" squealed Pettigrew. "If Voldemort's supporters were after me, it was because I put one of their best men in Azkaban - the spy, Sirius Black!"

"How dare you," Sirius growled, sounding suddenly like the bearsized dog he had been. "I, a spy for Voldemort? When did I ever sneak around people who were stronger and more powerful than myself? But you, Peter - I'll never understand why I didn't see you were the spy from the start. You always liked big friends who'd look after you, didn't you? It used to be us...me and Remus...and James..."

"Me, a spy...must be out of your mind...never...don't know how you can say such a -"

"Lily and James only made you Secret-Keeper because I suggested it," Black hissed, so venomously that Pettigrew took a step backward. "I thought it was the perfect plan...a bluff...Voldemort would be sure to come after me, would never dream they'd use a weak, talentless thing like you...It must have been the finest moment of your miserable life, telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters."

Phrases like "lunacy" and "ridiculous" and "lies" reached my ears. I didn't care. The wind had been knocked out of me so long ago by all these pieces fitting into place, by my thirst to understand, by my grief over the truth: that this man was the true killer. And he was at my mercy now, all of ours.

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione timidly. "Can - can I say something?"

"Certainly, Hermione," said Lupin courteously.

"Well - Scabbers - I mean, this - this man - he's been sleeping in Harry's dormitory for three years. If he's working for You-Know-Who, how come he never tried to hurt Harry before now?"

"There!" said Pettigrew shrilly, pointing at her with his maimed hand. "Thank you! You see, Remus? I have never hurt a hair of Harry's head! Why should I?"

"I'll tell you why," said Black. "Because you never did anything for anyone unless you could see what was in it for you. Voldemort's been in hiding for fifteen years, they say he's half dead. You weren't about to commit murder right under Albus Dumbledore's nose, for a wreck of a wizard who'd lost all of his power, were you? You'd want to be quite sure he was the biggest bully in the playground before you went back to him, wouldn't you? Why else did you find a wizard family to take you in? Keeping an ear out for news, weren't you, Peter? Just in case your old protector regained strength, and it was safe to rejoin him..."

Pettigrew opened his mouth and closed it several times. He seemed to have lost the ability to talk, though I knew better. He just had no defences to the logic. How could he?

"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione. "If you don't mind me asking, how - how did you get out of Azkaban, if you didn't use Dark Magic?"

"Thank you!" gasped Pettigrew, nodding frantically at her. "Exactly! Precisely what I -

"I don't know how I did it," he said slowly. "I think the only reason I never lost my mind is that I knew I was innocent. That wasn't a happy thought, so the Dementors couldn't suck it out of me...but it kept me sane and knowing who I am...helped me keep my powers...so when it all became...too much...I could transform in my cell...become a dog. Dementors can't see, you know..." He swallowed. "They feel their way toward people by feeding off their emotions...They could tell that my feelings were less - less human, less complex when I was a dog...but they thought, of course, that I was losing my mind like everyone else in there, so it didn't trouble them. But I was weak, very weak, and I had no hope of driving them away from me without a wand..."

That actually made sense. Since dementors fed off human happiness, if the thought hadn't been joyful, it couldn't be taken from him. That sly bugger! I would have to tell the twins about this later.

"But then I saw Peter in that picture...I realized he was at Hogwarts with Harry...perfectly positioned to act, if one hint reached his ears that the Dark Side was gathering strength again..."

Pettigrew was shaking his head, mouthing noiselessly, but staring all the while at Black as though hypnotized.

"...ready to strike at the moment he could be sure of allies...and to deliver the last Potter to them. if he gave them Harry, who'd dare say he'd betrayed Lord Voldemort? He'd be welcomed back with honors..."

"So you see, I had to do something. I was the only one who knew Peter was still alive..."

Harry remembered what Mr. Weasley had told Mrs. Wealsey. 'The guards say he's been talking in his sleep... always the same words... 'He's at Hogwarts.''

"It was as if someone had lit a fire In my head, and the Dementors couldn't destroy it...It wasn't a happy feeling...it was an obsession...but it gave me strength, it cleared my mind. So, one night when they opened my door to bring food, I slipped past them as a dog...It's so much harder for them to sense animal emotions that they were confused...I was thin, very thin...thin enough to slip through the bars...I swam as a dog back to the mainland ...I journeyed north and slipped into the Hogwarts grounds as a dog. I've been living in the forest ever since, except when I came to watch the Quidditch, of course. You two… you fly as well as your father did."

He looked at Harry, who did not look away.

"Believe me," croaked Black. "Believe me. I never betrayed James and Lily. I would have died before I betrayed them."

There was something so pure and broken on his face that it dashed any doubts I had left, which were few and far between. There was no question. This man was innocent, good, and everything I remembered through pensives, videos, and good old fashioned toddler memories.

"No!"

Pettigrew had fallen to his knees as though Harry's nod had been his own death sentence. He shuffled forward on his knees, groveling, his hands clasped in front of him as though praying.

"Sirius - it's me...it's Peter...your friend...you wouldn't -"

Black kicked out and Pettigrew recoiled.

"There's enough filth on my robes without you touching them," said Black.

"Remus!" Pettigrew squeaked, turning to Lupin instead, writhing imploringly in front of him. "You don't believe this - wouldn't Sirius have told you they'd changed the plan?"

"Not if he thought I was the spy, Peter," said Lupin. "I assume that's why you didn't tell me, Sirius?" he said casually over Pettigrew's head.

"Forgive me, Remus," said Black.

"Not at all, Padfoot, old friend," said Lupin, who was now rolling up his sleeves. "And will you, in turn, forgive me for believing you were the spy?"

"Of course," said Black, and the ghost of a grin flitted across his gaunt face. He, too, began rolling up his sleeves. "Shall we kill him together?"

"Yes, I think so," said Lupin grimly.

"You wouldn't...you won't..." gasped Pettigrew. And he scrambled around to Ron.

"Ron...haven't I been a good friend...a good pet? You won't let them kill me, Ron, will you...you're on my side, aren't you?"

"I let you sleep in my bed!" he said. Glad I wasn't the only one who had noticed it at least.

"Kind boy...kind master..." Pettigrew crawled toward Ron "You won't let them do it...I was your rat...I was a good pet..."

"If you made a better rat than a human, it's not much to boast about, Peter," said Black harshly. Ron, going still paler with pain, wrenched his broken leg out of Pettigrew's reach. Pettigrew turned on his knees, staggered forward, and seized the hem of Hermione's robes.

"Sweet girl...clever girl...you - you won't let them...Help me..."

Hermione pulled her robes out of Pettigrew's clutching hands and backed away against the wall, looking horrified. For the first time in a long while, I felt sympathy for the little snob. No child deserved this, especially one who was only in this situation because she was smarter than us all!

Pettigrew knelt, trembling uncontrollably, and turned his head slowly toward Harry.

"Harry...Harry...you look just like your father...just like him..."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO HARRY?" roared Black. "HOW DARE YOU FACE HIM? HOW DARE YOU TALK ABOUT JAMES IN FRONT OF HIM?"

"Harry," whispered Pettigrew, shuffling toward him, hands outstretched. "Harry, James wouldn't have wanted me killed...James would have understood, Harry...he would have shown me mercy..."

Harry looked at him, unmoving, and I felt pride at him for being so strong. Until Pettigrew turned to me and all I could feel was revulsion at this pathetic excuse for a person.

'Kalmine… you're the oldest… the wisest… you must know...' he shuffled towards me, coming within my foot's reach, so I couldn't stop myself as I kicked out and caught him in the stomach. For my parents.

'All I know, is that you are a pathetic excuse for a human, and you had better get away from me, and my brother, and my friends, before I do a lot worse than kick you.'

"You sold Lily and James to Voldemort," said Black, who was shaking too. "Do you deny it?"

Pettigrew burst into tears suddenly, alarmingly, like a baby who was having a tantrum over something.

"Sirius, Sirius, what could I have done? The Dark Lord...you have no idea...he has weapons you can't imagine ...I was scared, Sirius, I was never brave like you and Remus and James. I never meant it to happen...He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named forced me -"

"DON'T LIE!" bellowed Black. "YOU'D BEEN PASSING INFORMATION TO HIM FOR A YEAR BEFORE LILY AND JAMES DIED! YOU WERE HIS SPY!"

"He - he was taking over everywhere!" gasped Pettigrew. "Wh-what was there to be gained by refusing him?"

"What was there to be gained by fighting the most evil wizard who has ever existed?" said Black, with a terrible fury in his face. "Only innocent lives, Peter!"

"You don't understand!" whined Pettigrew. "He would have killed me, Sirius!"

"THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!"

'How did you end up in Gryffindor?' I asked with disgust in my voice, clear as day. 'How could you possibly have ended up in the same house as the people I know to represent it?'

'You're not a Gryffindor - I don't even think you're a human.' Harry spat after I had finished.

"You should have realized," said Lupin quietly, "if Voldemort didn't kill you, we would. Good-bye, Peter."

Hermione covered her face with her hands and turned to the wall. I walked towards her briskly and pulled her into me, like I was a parent because it was how I felt right now. Protective. Even of her. She didn't resist, just let out a little sob and buried her head deeper into chest, where her head reached.

I waited for the familiar words to sound, squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation...

"NO!" Harry yelled. He ran forward, placing himself in front Pettigrew, facing the wands. "You can't kill him," he said breathlessly. "You can't."

I must have looked as staggered as everyone else, for I released a confused and dazed Hermione to look at him with question in my eyes.

"Harry, this piece of vermin is the reason you have no parents," Black snarled. "This cringing bit of filth would have seen you die too, without turning a hair. You and your sister. You heard him. His own stinking skin meant more to him than your whole family."

"I know," Harry panted. "We'll take him up to the castle. We'll hand him over to the Dementors...He can go to Azkaban...but don't kill him."

"Harry!" gasped Pettigrew, and he flung his arms around Harry's knees. "You - thank you - it's more than I deserve - thank you -"

"Get off me," Harry spat, throwing Pettigrew's hands off him in disgust. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it because - I don't reckon my dad would've wanted them to become killers - just for you."

A small, selfish part of me wanted Peter to die. Wanted justice to be served. But for my father, I'll let it slide. We can always kill the next man who poses as a rat because they killed someone's parents and are hiding from the dark lord who put an innocent man in azkaban who escaped to find him and kill him only to have said parents child stop him from dying.

"You're the only person who has the right to decide, Harry, you and your sister," said Black. "But think... think what he did..."

"No I agree," I said. "Just pick something and get going. I've had enough drama for a lifetime, thank you very much. Do what you will."

"He can go to Azkaban," Harry repeated. "If anyone deserves that place, he does..."

"Very well. Stand aside, Harry. I'm going to tie him up," said Lupin. "That's all, I swear."

Harry stepped out of the way. Thin cords shot from Lupin's wand this time, and next moment, Pettigrew was wriggling on the floor, bound and gagged.

"But if you transform, Peter," growled Black, his own wand pointing at Pettigrew too, "we will kill you. You agree, Harry?"

After they got Ron bandaged up and finished examining Snape, I zoned out, lost in the turn of events that had happened. We finally left the tunnel as a really sorry bunch: a bruised DADA professor, an unconscious potions master being levitated behind him, a dirty Azkaban escapee, a crying rat man, a young boy with a broken leg, and then me, Harry, and Hermione. Crookshanks ended up leading us out, tail held high, with pride I wish I had right then.

 **A/N:**

 **Oh WOW this chapter was long! Like the last one I guess… I am so sorry for boring you all. This is just repeated dialogue from the books. Soon it'll be over. Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye. Probably by next chapter.**

 **The bad news is I keep lying to you, my loyal readers who deserve better writing than this filth! There is probably going to be… two chapters left after this one. Is that good? Then I'll FINALLY get started on the fourth year: I'm looking forward to it! I hate writing like this, just copying the book and inputting things so it isn't the exact same. WHERE IS THE ROOM FOR NON-BOREDOM?**

 **To make up for it, I'm posting the two major boring chapters at once though, so you won't have to wait long for yet another boring one! Yay! See ya tomorrow, when hopefully it won't be boring, and…. yeah. Where the super long updates should end.**

 **I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING YESTERDAY! I JUST STARTED HIGH SCHOOL AND AM TRYING TO ADJUST... PLUS WAS DOWN ON MY PHONE. Shouldn't happen again...**

 **Stay awesome,**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	23. Chapter 21

We walked in virtual silence down the tunnel, me playing the game called try to make Snape's head bounce against the ceiling as often as possible. You played it pretty much how it sounded. It wasn't until Bla - Sirius gave me an amused look that I sheepishly stopped cheering and joined Hermione at the rear of the group.

'Hey,' I said quietly. She lifted her head to look at me, tears still showing where they had fallen on her young face. 'Are you okay?'

'Never better.' She said with a fake smile.

'You can quit faking, Hermione. I know you're not.'

'Then why did you ask?'

'To be polite.' I explained, drawing a slight chuckle.

'It's just - I didn't expect it to be so hard seeing someone like that die! I thought I could do it, but I realize that I c-can't. What if I have to one day and I'm not able to? There won't always be professors around to save us.' She said, and I looked at her in awe. The clever witch.

'Well,' I began carefully. 'I think you have a good heart, Hermione. So seeing anyone die would make you upset, and rightfully so. You're just a kid. You want to be just a brain but you aren't, you have a heart like everyone else. But I also think you're the best witch of our age, as much as it pains me to admit it.' I paused for laughter. 'So anything you have to do, you'll be able to. You're Hermione Granger, after all.'

'Thanks,' she mumbled, wiping at her cheeks. 'I always - you know - got the impression you weren't fond of me!'

'I wasn't really. But I think I have to get over the fact that I can't dislike everyone who is smarter than me or the world will be full of people I dislike.'

She gave me a weak smile which I returned, just as I heard Lupin speak up from where he had heard our conversation, the eavesdropper. 'Kal, why do you keep saying they're "just kids?" So are you."

'I don't-'

'Don't try and pretend you're so mature, either. You're the fourth most troublesome person in the school, behind the Weasley boys and Lee.'

'You're close to the Weasley twins then, I take it? I remember seeing you all when I was padfoot.' SIrius spoke fondly, pulling Harry and I away from the others.

'Close?' Harry scoffed. 'She's their triplet. You can guarantee they'll know all about this little adventure by the time we get back to the castle. She never keeps anything from them.'

'I had friends like that in school.' Sirius said fondly once more. 'One is dead, your father, one is alive, and one I wish never lived.'

How did I know who he was speaking of ? I must be a Seer.

"You know what this means?" Black said abruptly to us as we made our slow progress along the tunnel. "Turning Pettigrew in?"

"You're free," said Harry.

"Yes..." said Black. "But I'm also - I don't know if anyone ever told you - I'm your godfather."

"Yeah, I knew that," said Harry.

'I remembered at the beginning of the year: that and Harry told me.' I said.

"Well... your parents appointed me your guardian," said Black stiffly. "If anything happened to them..."

I stopped walking. Did Sirius Black meant what I thought he did?

"I'll understand, of course, if you want to stay with your aunt and uncle," said Black. "But... well... think about it. Once my name's cleared... if you wanted a... a different home..."

Leave the Dursleys? Was he actually ASKING IF I WANTED TO? OF COURSE I DID! But the thought of living with this man who I hardly knew, who we just literally accused of murder was none too appealing either… but to get away from the Dursleys, I would gladly live with apes, or even Lee.

"What - live with you?" Harry said, accidentally cracking his head on a bit of rock protruding from the ceiling. "Leave the Dursleys?"

"Of course, I thought you wouldn't want to," said Black quickly. "I understand, I just thought I'd -"

"Are you insane?" said Harry, his voice easily as croaky as Black's. "Of course I want to leave the Dursleys! Have you got a house? When can I move in?"

'Good that, Harry! I'd literally move in with… with Steven Goyle to get away from the Dursley family!' I shrieked happily.

"You want to?" he said. "You mean it?" His eyes were full of such happiness I got the impulse to hug the man, which was cut short by the sound of Snape's head dragging along the stone ceiling.

"Yeah, I mean it!" said Harry.

'I would never kid about something like this!' I assured him with a gigantic grin. Harry turned to me as if to say: Yes You Would. I just waved him off and smiled to myself, happier than I can ever remember being but sadder at the same time. So many things had changed and I didn't even know where to begin, though something told me I would never be the exact same Kal Potter once we got out of this tunnel. Something had shifted - just what, I wondered?

Time would tell.

We all began our trek over the grounds, seeing the looming figure of Hogwarts Castle bathed in the beautiful light that came from the moon above us. The beautiful _full moon._

I gasped. As if on cue, Remus Lupin bean to shake violently, throwing his limbs all around as if to somehow fight off the inevitable. Sirius threw his arms back to shove Harry and myself away from the man.

'Oh my! He didn't take his potion tonight, he's not safe!' Gasped Hermione, taking a step away in fright I was also feeling, and no doubt Harry and Ron were too by their pale as the, well, moon faces and wide eyes.

'Run,' Sirius whispered, locking eyes with me as he said so. 'Run now!'

I took a running step away before realizing my brother hadn't left yet, he was jumping directly at the werewolf for some reason! And then I eyed the chains that led from Lupin and Pettigrew that were holding Ron. Ron. In a flash, I was next to him, ignoring Sirius's pleas to let him handle it, fumbling with the heavy metal chains, trying to free him to no avail.

Sirius appeared to have disappeared until I heard Hermione gasp and point, revealing the very same black dog that had been watching us play just days ago. With a vicious snarl they lunged at each other, ripping and tearing and snapping their jaws.

Pettigrew lunged for Lupin's dropped wand, aimed it at Crookshanks, and sent the cat flying, with Hermione running after it. Ron fell on his unstable leg from the bang and was hit by another spell, then he lay motionless.

'Expelliarmus!' I shouted, aiming my wand at Pettigrew, who was instantly rid of the wand he had been holding.

'Stay where you are!' Cried Harry, rushing forward, but it was too late. Pettigrew was already more rat than man. (As if he ever hadn't been, but I meant in body shape.) The sight made me want to puke (what, I had a weak stomach!), it was like Pettigrew had SUCKED INTO himself and disappeared into that tiny rat. Ugh.

"What did he do to him?" Hermione whispered, eyeing Ron tearily.

"I don't know," I responded. "We should get back into the castle and get him to the infirmary -" but then we all heard a yelp. A human one but a familiar sound at best.

"Sirius," we all said together, and Harry began running stupidly towards the noise, forcing me and Hermione to follow him into the forest.

The yelping stopped out of nowhere and we all saw why, I skidded to a halt and took a second to take in the scene. Dementors swarmed my godfather as he crouched with his head protected under his arms, trying desperately to not be kissed. "No… no please!" He moaned. His voice sounded weak.

"THINK OF SOMETHING HAPPY!" Harry screamed at us, and then closed his eyes and began chanting, "expecto patronum."

I had more practice than any of us, so I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring the horrible sadness that overtook me all of a sudden, and thought of my first day at Hogwarts: when I first left the Dursleys. Harry had been less than happy that he couldn't come, we had been really close, especially before Hogwarts when we had nobody but each other. I had come home almost every break for two years to see him and make sure the filthy Dursleys were not locking him in their attic without water like they had once tried to do in my first year. When I told him the stories about it, he would marvel with wonder, and jealousy, I knew. Those were the days….

"Expecto Patronum!" I aimed my wand, and a jet of white mist shot towards the dementors, hovering in front of my face before it began to take the shape of a leaping dolphin. It brought most of them away, so I helped Black to his feet and watched as the Dementors fled, Harry, impressively, with a line of shapeless white mist in front of his face. It was good for someone so young.

Until Harry and Hermione collapsed into each other, and then I rushed over to them to help them up. "Harry! Hermione! Get up, we have to get back to the castle before they show up again!" I urged, but they rolled over in unison, then groaned.

I looked at Sirius sheepishly. "So… how're we gonna get back to the castle?"

Sirius was staring at me with a mix of complicated emotion on his face that I didn't care to decipher yet. "That - you - how long have you -?"

"Since about my third or fourth year." I admitted proudly. "Because of Harry - being the chosen one and all."

We levitated the Harry and Hermione (Ron insisted he could walk now), and began our way up to the castle. We marched on in complete silence, just sharing glances occasionally, seeing if someone had woken up.

I couldn't believe I might actually leave the Dursleys. In just a few minutes we could clear his name and he would be a free man. A free godfather. And I would be free of the family 'o' pigs.

We marched up to the castle and entered just inside the walls, me still aiming my wand at Harry to levitate him, Sirius levitating both Hermione and Snape as he walked. I heard muttered phrases like "Pettigrew" every once in a while, so I remembered he had escaped. My parents killer was on the loose. This could not be good, not good at all.

A sudden onslaught of voices hit my ears in a fresh wave of fear and urgency, with a clatter, Snape fell to the floor and was awake in a flash.

I aimed my wand at him and tried to think of a spell. My mind froze. Why couldn't I remember a single spell? What was the spell… what was it?

It took me too long, because in only seconds, Snape had grabbed Sirius by the neck and had muttered something, aiming his wand at my chest. The last thing I saw before I fainted was Sirius being dragged off limply in my potion professor's hands.

Wasn't this just turning out to be the best day?

 **A/N:**

 **Okay, I lied when I said this chapter might be the last of true action: the next one will involve a little bit and then, the next chapter will be the end of the year (for sure this time.) and then…. ON WITH THE GOBLET OF FIRE! WOOT WOOT! Leave me reviews to tell me what you thought, yeah?**

 **I know some of you will probably be thinking "that isn't what happens in the book!" but hear me out. I believe that every character in a book AFFECTS things, changes how the plot goes. So by rights, Kalmine should be able to change things through her actions, though I will be sticking to a nearly identical timeline and plot throughout this fanfiction. Just the battle of Hogwarts and everything might not go down as you people expect it...she will be changing some things. But not without explanation, you'll see. Obviously I'll have to balance out her good changes and bad, as well.**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	24. Chapter 22

The bright walls of the hospital wing hit my eyes like a bullet train after so many minutes of darkness. Hushed voices were talking, and then… a harsh scream.

'THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!' Someone hollered almost directly above me. I peeked up to see Snape. What was he doing here? Then the events of the night before came flooding back to me, panic settled in the pit of my stomach.

'Calm down, man!' The minister - WAIT THE MINISTER - said from next to him.

'YOU DON'T KNOW POTTER! HE DID IT - I KNOW HE DID IT -'

"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore quietly. "Think about what you are saying. This door has been locked since I left the ward ten minutes ago. Madam Pomfrey, have these students left their beds?"

"Of course not!" said Madam Pomfrey, bristling at the accusation. "I would have heard them!"

"Well, there you have it, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "Unless you are suggesting that Harry and Hermione are able to be in two places at once, I'm afraid I don't see any point in troubling them further."

"Oh, he's not unbalanced," said Dumbledore quietly. "He's just suffered a severe disappointment."

"He's not the only one!" puffed Fudge. "The Daily Prophet's going to have a field day! We had Black cornered and he slipped through our fingers yet again! All it needs now is for the story of that Hippogriff's escape to get out, and I'll be a laughingstock! Well... I'd better go and notify the Ministry..."

"And the Dementors?" said Dumbledore. "They'll be removed from the school, I trust?"

"Oh yes, they'll have to go," said Fudge, running his fingers distractedly through his hair. "Never dreamed they'd attempt to administer the Kiss on an innocent boy... Completely out of control... no, I'll have them packed off back to Azkaban tonight ... Perhaps we should think about dragons at the school entrance..."

"Hagrid would like that," said Dumbledore.

No kidding. What was this about, even? Where was Sirius?

"What - what happened?" he groaned. "Harry? Why are we in here? Where's Sirius? Where's Lupin? What's going on?"

"I'd like to know," I said, my voice quavering and raw.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other. I shot them a glare which I hope hurried them up.

"You explain," said Harry, helping himself to some more chocolate.

OoOoOoOoOo

The second I walked into the empty common room, Fred was upon me.

A flash of red, and then of blue filled my line of vision, then my feet left the ground and I was being tossed around like a rag doll. Despite my struggling, Fred had picked me up and was squeezing the breath out of me.

'Fred! Put me down!' I kicked.

'Where were you? Where did you go? We looked for you _all last night_ but you didn't turn up, then we heard you were in the infirmary, but we weren't aloud to visit! Nobody would bloody tell us anything we ALMOST got out the Extendable Ears! TO SPY ON DUMBLEDORE!' He said in a rush, still clutching me in the air.

'Fred! Calm down!' I soothed the dishevelled looking boy. 'Go get George and everyone else and then I'll start.'

He did and I sat on the couch after receiving my (less) enthusiastic hugs, then I began.

Once I finished, there was nothing left to say until Lee spoke up. 'YOU ARE DAMNED LUCKY, KAL! Why do all the interesting things happen to _you?'_

'I wouldn't call it interesting,' muttered Katie to him. 'More like dangerous. She should be lucky to be alive!'

'Oh come off it! He never was going to kill them!' Lee argued. 'But now they have a story! What do I have? All I'm left with is my intelligence, charm, good looks, and charisma!'

'I'm afraid you have nothing left then, mate,' George snickered. 'But Katie's right. It's lucky that Sc-Pettigrew didn't hurt them before, and that nothing else happened! Though we'd appreciate being invited on your adventures more often, Kal.'

'Because we all send out invitations! _You are cordially invited to Sirius Black's innocent proving. Bring Dementor approved clothing and rat repellent.'_ I said angrily. I looked to Fred, for some reason.

'I can't believe Scabbers was Pettigrew this whole time, living in my house! He slept in my brothers bed! He's slept in my room! He could make a fortune, selling the product information he's overheard!' Fred ranted. 'He could destroy our pranks! Do you KNOW what people would pay to get the ingredients of those jokes?' I giggled.

'Honestly, I can't believe that's all you're thinking about right now.' Angelina huffed.

'It isn't ALL! If you think I'm not glad you lived Kal, you're delusional. I mean, it would be nice to receive one of those invitations next time, but I'm honestly just glad you didn't get kissed by a dementor.'

'I'm glad I didn't get kissed by a dementor too! Triplets!' I teased. Meanwhile, my mind was still blown that Harry was capable of producing a patronus. I had them bragging rights!

OoOoOoOoOo THIRD PERSON POV: OoOoOoOoOo

Fred was really more thankful than he had let on.

The thought of Kalmine Potter dying was enough to make him feel like a dementor had hit him. He knew that it was his job, as her best friend, to protect her from this. Even if it was only because he was taller. Ron was _always_ with Harry when these things happened. Where was he, Fred during all this? Playing exploding snap with George, and once he found out they were gone, running uselessly around the castle looking for her and his brother. What good had it done, anyway? He was useless, utterly useless, and the thought was depressing enough to lay in the front of his mind all night.

What kind of friend was he if he was never there when it counted?

Kal could have _died_ or been hurt in a serious (or a Sirius, he thought) accident. He wouldn't have been there to help: she would've been devoured by a werewolf/professor (he had always known teachers were monsters!) or killed by a pyscho Azkaban escapee.

Why, he wondered, was it so important to him that he was always there for her? He knew that he did fancy her, he had known that since they were in third year, but why was it so important? George probably wouldn't be thinking this way for Katie! Was Fred just going banana's?

 _Or maybe I'm already banana's and I just don't know it._

 **A/N:**

 **Hey all! Sorry for the short chapter! Tell me what ya think, yeah? Next one, as promised, will also be short and will be tying up the year, then ON WITH THE GOBLET OF FIRE! YAY! Because there has been a lot of demand for future years to happen, so yeah. Keep the reviews coming, because seriously, they help me write faster. (I didn't even start writing this again after I published chapter fourteen until I got a review, and then I got inspired all over again.) Okay thank you all!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	25. Chapter 23

When Dumbledore gave us our O.W.L results, I felt the pit in my stomach deepen in anticipation as I searched for the twins, Lee, Katie, Alicia and Angelina, so we could open them together. I was fairly certain at least a few of them would have worse results than me, anyway.

Sure enough, I collided with Lee, who was running through the halls. "Kal, I was looking for you! We need to find-"

"-the others! Yes I know, let's go!" We went off around the school, searching the faces for Weasley red hair. It wasn't until I saw them above everyone else, being as tall as they were, that I ran over to them followed by Lee and found Katie, Alicia, and Angelina.

"You ready for this, girls?" Angelina nervously looked at us. We all nodded.

"Born ready!" George added with a wink.

"One, two three…. GO!" I hollered, and we all went into a rampage to unfold the paper and look at it. Written on mine was this.

 _Ordinary Wizarding Level Results_

 _Pass Grades:_ _Fail Grades:_

 _Outstanding (O)_ _Poor (P)_

 _Exceeds Expectations (E)_ _Dreadful (D)_

 _Acceptable (A) Troll (T)_

 _Astronomy: P_

 _Charms: E_

 _Herbology: P_

 _Muggle Studies: O_

 _Transfiguration: A_

 _Care of Magical Creatures: O_

 _Divination: P_

 _History of Magic: D_

 _Potions: E_

 _D.A.D.A: O_

All breath was forced out of me. _Six_ O. That was better than I had ever hoped! Of course i had failed Divination, and Potions, and Astronomy, and History of Magic… but SIX! That was completely amazing for someone like me! A miracle really… even if lots of them were A's.

Everyone else had looks of shock, satisfaction, and horror on their faces. It didn't take long to launch into discussion.

"I got five O. !" Angelina said proudly, I looked forwards to upstaging her just this once.

"That isn't bad, Ange! I got six!" Katie replied, and Angelina pouted. Alicia shyly looked up.

"I got -um- eight." We all squealed our approval, but it wasn't a big surprise that Alicia was the smartest of us all. Not a surprise at all.

"I got three O. !" Lee stated as if proud of the fact.

"We got-"

"-six between the two of us!" George finished for Fred, beaming.

"Though we should get them just for being good looking and for showing up, but professors have no sense of justice." laughed Fred. "What'd you get, Kal?"

I suddenly didn't want to say, afraid they would make fun of me for getting a pretty good mark, or worse, not believe me. That would be humiliating to have your own friends not believe you could pass so many classes.

"Well?" Alicia demanded, trying to grab my paper.

"She obviously got a bad score, or she would tell you!" said Lee, to which I glared.

"No I didn't! I got six O. !" I blurted out, slapping my hands over my face too late.

There was a moment of shocked silence, and then it began. Alicia was on top of me first, pinning me and shrieking, Katie and Angelina examined my sheet in awe that I could do so well, Lee was shaking his head and muttering about "Kalmine going to the dark side" and Fred and George just grinned at me. Such a friendly grin, too. I was yanked to my feet by two strong beater's arms encircling my waist and pulling me straight up like I was nothing: Fred was grinning down into my face, too close for comfort but too far for satisfaction. Danger thought hounded in the corners of mind as I felt his breath chill my neck, his hands brush my arm, sending goosebumps up and down my skin…

"Congratulations! We have a regular nerd here!"

"You're forgetting Alicia got more than me!"

"But that was expected," he pointed out. "This calls for celebratory cake in the kitchens! Wouldn't you say, George?"

"Oh certainly, Fred." The two silly boys led us all down to the kitchen, my line of thinking full of laughter and relief. _Oh, Fred did not just use me as an excuse to get cake._

 _OoOoOoOoOo_

The Hogwarts Express had long since chugged out of the station, all of us Lion's still on the adrenaline of winning the House Cup for the third consecutive year in a row, giving Slytherin the beatdown. Nothing lifted my spirits after exams like having the school up in red and gold, and having Steven Goyle with his head bowed in shame whenever I used it against him. Life, once again, was good. Not only good: the best.

It was truly amazing watching Fred and George _eat._ They would eat so much that I thought they would explode, then belch and ask for more. Without ever getting fat. Some people, who weren't unusually skinny like I was, would kill to have a metabolism like that of the Weasley children. I was watching this phenomenon in action in our compartment as they downed Chocolate Frogs and Cauldron Cakes by the dozen, when Fred looked up and caught my eye. Grinning his chocolatey grin (it was quite disgusting), he got up and sat next to me, reclining in the seat so his head was in my lap.

"Sad that this year's actually over, right?" he said, looking up into my eyes from where his head lay. I just nodded my response.

"Can you imagine how this'll feel in a couple years when we leave for real? I want to cry just thinking about it!" Katie answered. George shrugged his sympathies and dug into another Pumpkin Pastry.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," he said, mouth full of lemon candy. "What's that outside our window?"

Outside the window, an owl bobbed, holding a letter that it dropped into my lap (hitting Fred in the face.) I picked it up and examined it carefully. It was addressed with my name and everything, no return besides a name… Sirius!

"Does that say it's from Sirius Black?" Lee piped, looking at it with awe. "Supercool! Read it out loud!"

I cleared my throat, scared he would mention something bad, what I wasn't sure. " _Dear Kalmine, I hope you get this letter before you reach the Dursley's, as I am not sure if they are familiar with owl post. I am in hiding with Buckbeak, who is surprisingly good company, and I cannot tell you where for fear my letter gets intercepted, for I believe the dementors are still looking for me. I am planning on letting some muggles see me so they'll spread word and throw them off the Hogwarts trail, and it will be safer, hopefully. At least get rid of the dementors._

 _I never did get around to informing you or your brother that it was I who sent Harry that firebolt. I suppose I did, in fact, fulfill my duty as a Godfather and deliver gifts where they were needed. As a last gift to Harry, I have signed his Hogsmeade permission slip. When I get back to you, I expect you to demand a gift too after all your brother has gotten. I know, I'm horrible._

 _If you ever need to write me, send a letter and the owl should find me. I'll try to write again sometime soon,_

 _Sirius_

There was a low silence before Lee broke out in a rampage of words. "See? See? Everything good happens to you! Where's MY cool godfather to buy me things, all I have is my mothers weird uncle who smells like rotten pumpkin-"

We all tuned him out for a while. "I'm going to miss you all this summer." I sighed drearily, envisioning myself trapped for months in my room at the Dursleys, only my wizarding trinkets to keep me going, and hopefully, letters.

"Like you don't every summer!" scoffed Fred from my lap.

"We'll miss you too, Kal," Angelina said sympathetically. "Hey, maybe I can kidnap you and bring you to my house!"

"Harry."

"He could come too!"

"I don't think so, Ange, but thanks for the offer," I joked.

"Oi! The Quidditch World Cup is in England this year, dad was talking about getting tickets from the Ministry! You could probably come with us, you and Harry! Though I'm sure Ron's already invited him." Fred cried in a stroke of genius.

"Oh! The Cup! That'd be amazing! I hope I get to go, I'm sure they'll let me after… well… what happened when we last parted ways."

With this prospect in mind to fuel me through the months, I turned and faced the approaching station.

OoOoOoOoOo

"Goodbye Kal! I'll try to call about the Cup, yeah?" Fred hollered after me when I reached the Dursleys. "Manage mischief, okay?"

"OKAY BYE FRED! BYE GEORGE! BYE LEE! BYE ANGE, AND KATIE, AND ALICIA!" I shouted after them, ignoring the looks of horror on my relatives faces as we made a scene at the station, waving and shouting like the idiots we were. Harry approached us with a sheet clutched in his hands. The permission slip from Sirius, I realized.

"What's that?" Vernon snarled, staring at the envelope Harry was still clutching in his hand. "If it's another form for me to sign, you've got another-"

"It's not," said Harry cheerfully. "It's a letter from my godfather."

"Godfather?" sputtered Uncle Vernon. "You haven't got a godfather!"

"Yes we have! He's real nice!" I said.

"He was my mum and dad's best friend. He's a convicted murderer, but he's broken out of wizard prison and he's on the run. He likes to keep in touch with me, though ... keep up with my news ... check if I'm happy ..."

"Really quick temper though. I can't imagine what would happen if he heard something he didn't like…" I said mischievously.

And, grinning broadly at the look of horror on Uncle Vernon's face, we both set off in promise of a better summer, hopefully no more of the life-or-death drama, the only future to worry about the Quidditch World Cup.

 **A/N: AAAAAAND here it is, the last chapter of the Prisoners of Azkaban! I am so excited to get started on the next year. But sadly, daily updates stop here. Thank you to all my amazing followers, reviewers, and favourites who have stuck by this for so long and who insist it isn't absolute crap when I know it is. Thanks, you're all awesome.**

 **A small change you might have noticed: I'm editing out Fionina and Abigail, the OC friends I made up for Kalmine. She has too many friends to keep track of as it is, and they're sort of pointless. So sorry, but not sorry, and I'm sure they won't be missed.**

 **How have you been pronouncing her full name? Could ya comment? I think it is supposed to be KAL- MINE, but I have been pronouncing it KAL- MEAN. Whoopsie. Anyway, see you in the Goblet of Fire! (A much more action-packed one, I can promise you that! And I'll be sticking to the Canon way more.)**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	26. Chapter 24

I had been awake for many minutes, wide awake, laying in my uncomfortable little bed across from my brother's, Harry Potter, just thinking about going back to school and about my friends. Or more importantly, Harry's friends, who had gone down the respect level on my scale, fast. All my pals from Hogwarts, the Weasley twins, Lee Jordan, Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinner, had all sent me letters this summer: some more than others. Alicia must have sent me at least thirty, with her love of owl post and writing, while Angelina had sent me about three, Lee only one a few days ago, Katie about seven, George five or six, and faithful as ever Fred sixteen. (Yes I had counted his exact number. So what? In case you hadn't noticed, I had a teeny tiny fancy to the stupid bloke. Even if I hated it.)

Even Oliver Wood had sent me a letter about how he was doing, mostly all talk of a Quidditch team he might have a shot with, how he wished we were all with him, how he missed Hogwarts. Oliver, my barely friend, had contacted me when Harry's best friends of three years hadn't said a single word in so long. Fred and George claimed that Ron had written Harry several times and never received a letter back, which was rubbish unless their bird was dropping them off to some other famous Harry Potter with a lightening bolt scar.

The sounds of quick panting came from the bed next to me, Harry. He was clutching at his scar, to my horror, and gasping for breath.

"Harry? Harry, are you okay?" I asked with concern in my eyes. It was no secret how much I strived to protect him. Even though the truth was I got him in more trouble at times.

"I- yeah. I'm fine. I just… my scar hurt."

"What if it means-"

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Was it only your scar, or…"

"No. I mean yes, it was only my scar! No to the or, but yes to the first question." corrected Harry, drawing a small grin from me. "Well actually, I had a dream to."

I was on high alert in an instant. "What dream?"

"Calm down! It was a dream with Voldemort and Pettigrew, and they were someplace called the Riddle Mansion plotting, and they killed a muggle. At least they aren't near here…"

That was what our lives were quickly becoming in this pent up place, lonely and desolate, with only the Dursley's and each other for company. Good news was when only one person died and the man who aimed to kill you wasn't near. We needed to get back to Hogwarts, and normality, fast. (The irony that a magical wizarding school would be called normalicy for us now, huh?)

"I'm going to write Sirius!" he said all of a sudden, getting up and heading to a tiny desk in the corner where we kept our parchment.

I thought about it, but then my brain began to hurt, so I decided to leave it for the adults when we got back to school. I was more of an action gal. More of a "put your life on the line, survive, and pay no price since you didn't die!" kind of girl.

Harry soon followed me down to the Dursley kitchen for "lunch" if you could call it that. A handful of food was not lunch, Fred and I agreed on that over letters. When we arrived, they were already seated, Petunia cutting a grapefruit into miniscule pieces, Vernon and Dudley eyeing it with great disapproval. I had given Dudley hell for being too fat to fit into his pants until Vernon yelled at me and brought the newspaper on my head, then I cut it out and contented myself to blow drying his pants even tighter than before as revenge. He would be on his little diet a whole lot longer than planned, that was for sure.

Harry and I happily tucked into our fifth's of grapefruit, knowing the good meal that awaited us upstairs. Everyday we would eat our crap meals from down here and rush upstairs to pry the floorboard loose and collect what we had received from our friends.

Harry had gotten quite a bit from Ron, Hermione, just the entire Weasley family. And Hagrid. Hagrid had sent us a rock cake that I would only eat if we got really desperate. I doubted I would get THAT desperate anyway. If worst came to worst and we ran out of proper food, we could just eat Dudley. He had enough meat on his bones to last us a good long time.

The Walrus (Vernon) left to answer the door and came back livid. "You," he barked at Harry and I. "In the living room. Now."

We obliged, walking into the pristinely clean living room Petunia always kept.

"So." The Walrus said, marching to face us. (I almost lost my meager lunch then and there. Never look at that man's face within a half hour of eating..) "This just arrived. A letter. About you."

Harry grabbed it eagerly, excited no doubt that it might finally be his friends.

 _Dear Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,_

 _We have never been introduced, but I am sure you have heard a great deal from Harry about my son Ron, and Kalmine about my twins, Fred and George._

 _As they might have told you, the final of the Quidditch World Cup takes place this Monday night, and my husband, Arthur, has just managed to get prime tickets through his connections at the Department of Magical Games and Sports._

 _I do hope you will allow us to take your niece and nephew to the match, as this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; Britain hasn't hosted the cup for thirty years, and tickets are extremely hard to come by. We would of course be glad to have Harry stay for the remainder of the summer holidays, and to see him safely onto the train back to school._

 _It would be best for you to send us your answer as quickly as possible in the normal way, because the Muggle postman has never delivered to our house, and I am not sure he even knows where it is._

 _Hoping to see Harry and Kal soon,_

 _Yours sincerely,_

 _Molly Weasley_

P.S. I do hope we've put enough stamps on.

Harry and I shared a look, I burst out laughing, receiving a harsh glare from the walrus. I do hope we've put enough stamps on.

"She did put enough stamps on, then," said Harry bravely - stupidly. Our uncle's eyes flashed.

"The postman noticed," he said through gritted teeth. "Very interested to know where this letter came from, he was. That's why he rang the doorbell. Seemed to think it was funny."

"So are we going or not?" I demanded of the Walrus, eager to go. If he said no, I was writing Fred and George to get the flying car repaired, and fast.

"Who is this woman?" he said, staring at the signature with distaste.

"You've seen her," said Harry. "She's my friend Ron's mother, she was meeting him off the Hog - off the school train at the end of last term."

"Dumpy sort of woman?" he growled finally. "Load of children with red hair?"

Dumpy? Sure, Ms. W was a little soft, but it was really funny of him to call someone Dumpy when he himself weighed more than your average hippo, and his son was spilling out of the large pants sewed especially for fat elephants.

Uncle Vernon was perusing the letter again.

"Quidditch," he muttered under his breath. "Quidditch - what is this rubbish?"

"It's a sport," he said shortly. "Played on broom-"

"The best sport ever!" I added.

"All right, all right!" said Uncle Vernon loudly. He looked panicked at the mention of something magical, since he was so scared of abnormality. It was strangely satisfying, and I could tell just by looking how much Harry agreed.

"What does she mean, 'the normal way'?" he spat.

"Normal for us," said Harry, and before his uncle could stop him, he added, "you know, owl post. That's what's normal for wizards."

Uncle Vernon looked as outraged as if Harry had just uttered a disgusting swearword. I had a few in mind. Shaking with anger, he shot a nervous look through the window, as though expecting to see some of the neighbors with their ears pressed against the glass.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to mention that unnaturalness under my roof?" he hissed, his face now a rich plum color. "You stand there, in the clothes Petunia and I have put on your ungrateful back -"

"Only after Dudley finishes with them."

"I will not be spoken to like that!" said Uncle Vernon, trembling with rage.

"Well you are. So get over it." I said cockily, he looked about ready to blow a gasket. "Can I go to our room? I want to write a letter to Sirius explaining this unfortunate little setback in plans."

"You're - you're writing to him, are you?" said Uncle Vernon, in a would-be calm voice - but Harry had seen the pupils of his tiny eyes contract with sudden fear.

"Well - yeah," said Harry, casually. "It's been a while since he heard from me, and, you know, if he doesn't he might start thinking something's wrong."

I knew how terrified he must be at the mention of Sirius. We had conviniently forgotten to tell him that Sirius was no killer, so he jumped at the mention of him. Harry laced his tone with darkness too, so it sounded like a threat - scaring me that my brother could act so superbly.

"Well, all right then. You can go to this ruddy...this stupid...this World Cup thing. You write and tell these - these Weasleys they're to pick you up, mind. I haven't got time to go dropping you off all over the country. And you can spend the rest of the summer there. And you can tell your - your godfather...tell him...tell him you're going."

"Okay then," said Harry brightly, settling down next to me and handing me a sizable piece of birthday cake from underneath the floorboards once we got back to our rooms.

"Sirius'll be happy!" I smiled at the walrus got up to write all my friends. We were going to the World Cup, baby!

 **A/N:**

 **Woohoo! I finally have finished the first chapter of Goblet of Fire! I'll be labelling my chapters from one again, and I will everytime I start a new book. I honestly cannot wait to get into this book, one of my personal HP faves! What's all your HP faves? I'd like to know, if you want to leave it in a review. (Hint, hint.)**

 **Anyway, hope you liked this first chapter, we'll be seeing some of the gang next chapter. Thank god. Especially the chapters in the previous book involving Sirius, I wrote so little of the twins. They're back after this though!**

 **Let me tell you a bit about what's going to happen in the future of this story: I honestly was a bit panicky when I realized there was demand for future books to be written. I didn't have any real aim with this story, it was pointless and plotless. I'm too young and inexperienced to make a story anything else, really. But listen up: I've been FORMING a plot. In my mind.**

 **Thing is, this book I'll be sticking to the canon as much as possible, since I don't have many ideas for a year that is already action packed. Maybe a little SOCIAL drama I make up, but not much after that for GOF. LISTEN UP THOUGH! I have a lot planned for the heavy way ones- particularily what Kal will be doing while the Golden Trio is off doing their thing during the war, and when her and Fred will get together. Trust me though, it isn't for a while. :( One more thing… do you all think Nilixa is really and truly gone with the year? Maybe I'll bring her back sometime if the plotline goes cold…. but you never know.**

 **Yeah, I'm evil. Review please!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 _ **Forever Maria 3**_


	27. Chapter 25

We were ready for them by twelve, even though the Weasley's were coming at five. I just couldn't wait to see Fred and George, Ron…. even PERCY! Though that was probably just desperation talking. The second we got down the stairs, the Walrus informed us he wouldn't put up with them in abnormal clothing: something that satisfied me to no end, since it was almost CERTAIN they would be in something odd as usual.

To pass the time, I sat down and watched Dudley pace around the room, hands over his butt, to shield it from another assault. I had known off the bat I liked Hagrid when he gave my cousin that pigtail. I can only imagine what the doctor in London had been thinking as he surgically removed it.

"They'll be driving, of course?" Uncle Vernon barked.

"Er…" went Harry. Hopefully they would be.

Harry went up to his room soon after that and stayed up there most of the day, while I stayed downstairs and entertained myself by pretending to mutter spells at Dudley (without using a wand. He was that stupid) and watching him run from the room about as fast as a teenage boy the standard size of a baby elephant could. Petunia and walrus were jumpy, looking through the curtains every few minutes, straightening their furniture and fussing about the littlest details. It was just the Weasley's! They would literally be in and out, what were they doing trying to impress people they looked down on anyway? The rules of muggle society were stupid. It was like Ron going into Draco's house only to see his father had spent the day cleaning! With wizards, at least you knew what you were getting.

If you were rich you got the best and if you were poor or mediocre you got the least.

Five came and went without a sign of the Weasley family, succeeding in making the Dursley's a hundred times jumpier, Harry worried, and myself sick. If they didn't show up I would be so crushed. This was what I was counting on.

"They're late!" said the walrus.

"You don't say," I whispered under my breath.

The clock kept ticking and I watched it the hour hand slowly move, minute by minute, dragging on and on until all I could hear was the constant ticking of its movement and the never-ending fountain of complaints from my aunt and uncle.

Out of nowhere, a scream rang out that sounded like a giant baby being strangled, so I jumped up to see what Vernon Dursley was doing this time. I bumped into Dudley on his buttox-protecting journey away from the fire place… the fireplace.

"Ouch! Fred, no - go back, go back, there's been some kind of mistake - tell George not to - OUCH! George, no, there's no room, go back quickly and tell Ron -" the voice belonged to Arthur Weasley, and was coming from inside the electric fireplace. They had tried to floo: why had we never warned them? Idiots, that was what we were.

"Maybe they can hear us, Dad - maybe he'll be able to let us out -"

There was a loud hammering of fists on the boards behind the electric fire.

"Kal? Harry, can you hear us?"

Before I could respond, the Dursley's were on us like a pack of hungry wolves on bacon. _Mmm, bacon. Can't wait to eat some real food again at Hog-_ "What is going on here, you wretched, wretched children?" growled walrus.

"They - they've tried to get here by Floo powder," said Harry, not able to keep a straight face through this escapade. "They can travel by fire - only you've blocked the fireplace - hang on -" he crouched next to the fire place and cupped a hand over his mouth. "Mr. Weasley? Can you hear me? It's Harry!"

"Weasley's? Hello?" I called through the boards. "You there?"

"Trust me, we're here." said either Fred or George. I couldn't tell. "Ow! George, get your foot out of my damned gut!"

"Get your gut off my damned foot!"

"Mr. Weasley, it's Harry...the fireplace has been blocked up. You won't be able to get through there." Harry explained.

"Hell!" said Mr. Weasley's voice. "What on earth did they want to block up the fireplace for?"

"They've got an electric fire," Harry explained.

"Really?" said Mr. Weasley's voice suddenly excitedly. "Eclectic, you say? With a plug? Gracious, I must see that...Let's think...Ouch, Ron!"

Ron's voice sounded from the general direction of the other's. "What are we doing here? Has something gone wrong?"

"Oh no, Ron," came Fred's voice, very sarcastically. That was how I classified it, with the extra bit of bite that found its way into his voice. "No, this is exactly where we wanted to end up."

"Yeah, we're having the time of our lives here," said George, whose voice sounded muffled, as if he were against something.

"Boys, boys..." said Mr. Weasley vaguely. "I'm trying to think what to do...Yes...only way. Stand back, children."

We retreated onto the sofa eagerly, ignoring the protests from the Dursley family as they tried to determine what exactly was going to happen. No use came of it though, as the electric fire shot across the room and hit the wall with a thud, sending dust, splinters of wood, and wall debris flying into the air. The Weasley's emerged from the fireplace like muggles in a futuristic movie I had once seen a poster for, all of them sporting red hair and dust-covered robes. Walrus and Petunia gaped, Dudley did as well from upstairs. I could see his little rat face peeking from the staircase, buttox safely out of sight.

"That's better," panted Mr. Weasley, brushing dust from his long green robes and straightening his glasses. "Ah - you must be Harry's aunt and uncle!" With an outstretched hand, he moved to shake, then lowered it uncomfortably as he realized neither of them were about to touch his hand. I almost felt bad for Mr. Weasley. That he had to put up with rude people like this, I mean.

"Er - yes - sorry about that," said Mr. Weasley, lowering his hand and looking over his shoulder at the blasted fireplace, which looked awesome quite frankly. "It's all my fault. It just didn't occur to me that we wouldn't be able to get out at the other end. I had your fireplace connected to the Floo Network, you see - just for an afternoon, you know, so we could get Harry. Muggle fireplaces aren't supposed to be connected, strictly speaking - but I've got a useful contact at the Floo Regulation Panel and he fixed it for me. I can put it right in a jiffy, though, don't worry. I'll light a fire to send the boys back, and then I can repair your fireplace before I Disapparate."

I waved enthusiastically at Fred and George, who were behind their father (even though Fred and George were now a good two inches taller than he was), then to Mr. Weasley.

"Hello Kal! Harry! Do you have your trunks?" he asked brightly. I grinned at him.

"You better believe it, Mr. W! I'll go get it!" I said, sprinting up the stairs as fast as my legs could carry me, followed by Fred and George who clutched a bag of something I couldn't yet see.

As soon as I entered my room, I was swept off my feet. Literally.

"FRED WEASLEY PUT ME THE HELL DOWN!" all my efforts of kicking and clawing at the air like a cat without claws amounted to nothing. Fred held me HIGH above the ground, so I was slung like a sack of potato's over his shoulders, my feet resting on one side of his head and my upper body on the other. I kicked some more to no avail.

"I missed you too!"

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU WHEN I GET DOWN!"

"I know, summer hasn't been the same apart, has it?"

"FRED!"

Mr. Weasley briefly called up the stairs to his son. "Fred, remember the rules? Kal is not a rag doll. Do we have to go over them here?"

That was all it took to get Fred to put me down in a rush, cheeks burning red. It made me briefly wonder what could possibly be on that list. I decided I didn't want to know. "HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO DO THAT? YOU HAVE AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE OVER ME, YOU'RE ALMOST A FOOT TALLER THAN ME!"

"Okay, okay!" he put his hands to protect his face with a grin.

"Good. Now that we have gotten that out of the way…." pouncing on him, I took him to the floor in one of my full-body-bear hugs. With a shriek, we both fell to the ground laughing.

"I really did miss you, you know. Life is so boring without you to help us with our pranks! Which, for the record, have been going wonderfully," he sighed into my hair, letting me settle against the floor.

"I know, right? I wish I could just live in the burrow." I said truthfully. "That would be epic."

"George and I will personally vouch for it."

"And if your parents say no?" I asked with a small smile.

"We smuggle you in, of course! You could live in George's bed!"

"What about George?" I knew he would never get rid of George. Even if they were bloke's and would never give up their pride to admit it unless held at gunpoint, they loved each other more than any brother's I had ever met. Normal girls wanted to find "the yin to their yang" or whatever that meant. Everyone who knew the Weasley twins wanted to find the Fred to their George. **(A/N: No, this is not twincest. Yin and Yang are not dating, either! They just complete each other.)**

Fred pretended to think for a moment, turning to grin at me. "We would lock him in the closet, and if he escapes, we could tell everyone that _George came out of the closet."_

A laugh escaped from my lips. It had been far too long without my two best friends in the world, I had been experiencing major withdrawal. What surprised me the most was how much my happiness depended on them. Never before had I known how many of my best moments, how much of the happiness I had in my life, never before had I known how much of it came from them. I didn't like it one bit, either. Depending on people made me feel vulnerable and weak, since people had deserted me so often and so quickly, meaningly or not. It could be that I had slight trust issues.

"We are going to have so much fun at Hogwarts this year," Fred claimed off the bat. I raised my eyebrows at him. We always had fun at Hogwarts, but why on earth would this year be any different?

"Why?"

"No outrageous studying for exams this year!" he said.

"N.E. , Freddie," I reminded, receiving only a slight scoff.

"Not until next year. I will not open a book for those bloody exams until I have to, I say!"

We met back up with George, who was clutching Harry's trunk, and I allowed Fred to carry mine so that we were ready to rejoin the other's downstairs. By the gleeful smiles they exchanged once we were at the bottom with the muggles and the Weasley's, something had been planned. Knowing them, the Dursley's would not be liking it one bit.

"Better get cracking then!" Mr. Weasley set fire to the inside of the fireplace, for a moment the flames captivated me in their smoky depths. How long since I had looked into flames? Months. Odd how used I was to seeing fire around the castle, and how much I had honestly missed seeing it.

Not that I liked what came next. With every fiber of my being, I despised Flooing. Some would even say I had "Floophobia" which was just a fancy word George had come up with to say I was scared of it. Stepping into the red hot flames, then tumbling out the other end into who-knows-what was on the other side just made my knees go weak and my stomach clench. What if the fire burned me one of these days? What if there was a malfunction? The last thing I wanted was to be burned to a crisp before I even got back to school! A Kal-Cabob, if you would.

"Off you go then, Fred,"

"Coming! Oh no, wait - hang on -" a bag of something fell from his pockets, drawing my eyes to them. Candies. The kinds I hated, big, fat toffees that hurt my mouth just thinking about biting one. Though I saw Dudley's little pig eyes follow them across the floor and knew at once what was about to happen as Fred scrambled to pick them up, leaving just one in plain sight of Dudley. Good, he deserved whatever was about to happen.

Fred went, then George, then Ron, so it was only the Dursley's (Dudley was still staring at the candy greedily), Harry, Mr. Weasley, and myself. "Goodbye," Harry tried, bringing back the awful memories of him when he was a kid.

Harry, aged four, still hadn't accepted that he was apart of a family that would never love him, or me. Harry was the dreamer of the group, and I was the one who knew better. At the age of six, I had already learned it, so I didn't even try to please them. But Harry… he had a thirst for love that didn't quench, and he tried and tried for it until the age of about eight years old, when it was obvious he was never ever going to be anything to them.

Age four, he had picked our Aunt Petunia lovely flowers. By coincidence, they were lilies. Harry had been knocked on the head and sent to bed without supper. I had gone with him. It wasn't his fault. He was too young to even know our mother's name. Age six, he had drawn a picture of himself, me, and Dudley. On the same page. Titled "My family" Dudley had ripped it up and thrown it in the fireplace. When he was seven, he had asked why we were never allowed in the family photo's they took every year, only to get thumped on the hand with Uncle Vernon's cane and locked under the stairs all alone for two hours.

Harry had always been the dreamer, and I had been the one exposed to the harsh reality that dreams were useless in this world I lived in, that it would forever be my job to make sure my brother kept dreaming. It was only years later, when I received that fateful letter, that I truly became myself.

Myself. Not the serious, responsible sister known only for never being around and for mouthing off whenever she was. The Kalmine that loved jokes like they were family and adored the Weasley family for their freedom: they might have been financially confined but they had a freedom I couldn't even begin to comprehend, I still didn't, come to think of it.

Somewhere in all that mess, I began to dream too.

 **A/N:**

 **It seems like it's been too long! Probably because it has been… but it's probably been a lot harder for me than for you! I'm really sorry, I've just had a bunch of shit going on in my life lately… starting High School (in Canada I jump DIRECTLY from elementary to secondary, no middle school), getting an acceptance letter from the best school in the country… having to decide crap people at my age shouldn't be…**

 **but that's me! Tell me what you think, yeah? PLEASE review!**

 _ **Stay awesome,**_

 ** _Forever Maria_**


	28. Chapter 26

A horrible choking sound came from behind us as Harry stepped into the flames of the fireplace, prepared to Floo. The terrible sound came from none other than Dudley who was attempting to stuff his now abnormally large tongue into his mouth.

His tongue was a good few feet long, purple, and disgusting. Like one stolen from an oversized lizard. This must be the result of the infamous "Tongue Toffees" I kept hearing about. Genius.

Sometimes it baffled me what the twins could accomplish when they set their minds to it. If only they tried as hard as they did with their plants in school, they would both be straight O students. Reality was the twins were actually clever, just they didn't care about their classes so they came across as quite dumb. So many people didn't understand how serious they were about their joke shop. I had heard the talk "if only you would get serious about your lives" multiple times from teachers, parents, Hermione, and other students. (Mostly Ravenclaws, duh.)

But they just didn't understand them. They were completely serious about their lives: they wanted that joke shop. As long as they wanted that shop bad enough, they would get it, and I would support them. Deep down, I knew it was what they were meant to do.

Startled shrieks of dismay rose from Petunia and Vernon as they looked at me, always the main culprit, to find me laughing my butt off at Dudley's face.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" the walrus shouted with a fat finger aimed in my face. I didn't stop laughing quite fast enough, because he grabbed my upper arm and shoved me roughly. "ANSWER ME!"

Mr. Weasley looked like I had never seen him before. Anger radiated off the man. "Do not treat your niece like that!"

"I'll treat my family however I want, and I'm not about to be told how to run my house by a freak!" he raged in Mr. Weasley's face.

"You know what's more freaky than being a wizard? Weighing more than a blue whale." I mouthed, overcome with a sudden desire to defend Mr. Weasley in front of my uncle.

"I WILL NOT BE SPOKEN TO LIKE THAT!" he grabbed my arm again, leaving a sizable red mark that was painfully visible, before he shoved me to the floor. My head hit the wood with a thump.

Would you look at that, now I have little birds following me.

"We will be GOING!" Mr. Weasley hissed, pulling me up and giving me a worried look as my hand flew to my forehead, the sudden rush of blood painful, pounding in my ears like a drum.

I didn't even have time to be terrified of Flooing, because Harry pulled me in with him and took me to the Weasley house in a rush.

The birds followed me still.

"Did he eat it?" Fred asked once we stepped out, or rather Harry did. I collapsed on the ground of the burrow, relieved at not having to stand anymore.

"Yes, but-"

"Kal! What happened?" said Fred. I moaned. Why couldn't I think straight? My mouth wasn't saying what my brain told it to.

"You see, Kal has a bit of a - erm - reputation. When Dudley ate whatever that was they just assumed it was her and, well, my uncle overeacted." explained Harry.

"We're sorry!" George said, sounding pained. "We didn't think anyone would get hurt… we just wanted to test them on someone… Kal? Kal, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I groaned. "I have a pet bird now. He flies around my head. Hey, did you boys know how hard a wood floor is?"

"Uh-"

"The answer is much harder than I expected. But anyway."

With a bit of help from Fred, I got to my feet only a little unstable. The result was I had to keep an arm around him. The sacrifices I make to keep myself healthy.

Two boys - or men - stood up and made their way towards us. I recognized them by their hair as Weasley's, one I had met and the other I hadn't. Charlie had been at Hogwarts for two years with the twins and myself so I knew him well enough. Bill, on the other hand, had graduated the year I had started going, so I had never had the oppertunity to meet him: no matter. Charlie had told me enough about him.

I had a bit of a "little girl" crush on Charlie in my years at Hogwarts, and maybe it wasn't completely gone. What wasn't to like about CHARLIE? He was fun, amusing, and supercool. I mean, DRAGONS. ROMANIA. It was mostly gone, though. Not like Angelina, Katie and I had spent many days reading the letters he sent me from Romania and squealing.

That's a ridiculous accusation, you have no proof.

"How're you doing, Harry?" said Charlie, outstretching his hand, which Harry shook shyly. I grinned.

"Very good, thank you Mr. Weasley," I said in my own posh accent. I had based my fabulous immitation off Petunia when she spoke to the neighbours.

His face broke out in a grin of recognition. "Kalmine Potter! Been a while, yeah?"

"Yeah! How's Romania? Are the dragons cool? I want to name one! The next dragon you find, name it Bartholomew for me, okay?" I spouted, mentally slapping myself. Whenever I came into close contact with him I started spouting rubbish. Though owning a dragon named Bartholomew would be amazing, I would normally keep such thoughts to myself.

"You must be Kal," Bill said, getting to his feet. I frowned. How would he identify me through how I spoke? Did I ALWAYS come across as insane? "I've heard a lot about you!"

I fought the blush that I could feel creeping it's way up my neck. "Really?"

"Oh yes! The twins never shut up about you! Kal this, Kal that, every letter I get! Congratulations on six O. , by the way."

My eyes must have nearly popped out of their sockets. This was startling, to just meet someone to find they knew everything about you. A rousing chorus of laughter started at my expression. Who cared though? My mind was blown.

"Who… how…" I stuttered dumbly. Bill just laughed, thankfully.

"That was from Fred. Most of the information I get on you exclusively if from Fred, most of the information about the pranks you three pull is from George." he explained. My blush deepened. Why did it not appall me that Fred talked about me to his brothers? It should creep me out completely, you know, since I DID NOT FANCY HIM.

Keep telling yourself that.

Shut up brain.

I'm just being honest.

Whatever you're doing, could you STOP doing it?

Never.

Why do you hate me?

A quick glance over my shoulder revealed a hysterical George and a red faced Fred. His beautiful eyes trailed on the ground in front of him, a thick pink colour covering every inch of his skin. That I can see.

This was the line of thought that made me get even pinker, so I stopped thinking so hard and just nodded. I wonder if anyone was shocked by my movement, I would be pretty surprised if a tomato nodded, too.

After they both introduced themselves properly to Harry, who I had no doubt they heard a lot of about from Ron (see, it doesn't HAVE to mean anything), we all waited for Mr. Weasley to show up. We didn't have to wait long before he showed up, angry.

"That wasn't funny, Fred!" he shouted. "What on earth did you give that muggle boy?"

"I didn't give him anything, I dropped it. It was his fault he went and ate it, I never told him to!"

"You did it on purpose, you knew he would eat it, you knew he was on a diet-"

"How big did his tongue get?" George interupted eagerly.

"Four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!"

I errupted into peals of maniacal laughter as I imagined the scene. What I would have given to have been there and seen it firsthand… "Oh man, I'm sorry I missed that!" It looked like I wasn't alone. Harry was red in the face from laughing, the twins were chuckling to themselves evilly, Ron was rubbing his hands together with glee, even Bill and Charlie were grinning.

"It isn't funny! That sort of behavior seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatement of muggles and my own sons-"

"We didn't give it to him because he's a muggle!" said Fred indignantly.

"We gave it to him because he's a great bullying git," George finished earnestly, like a child apologizing for dropping his toy. I almost felt bad that they would be punished. Not almost, I did. Because Dudley deserved worse than he had received.

"Yeah he is, Mr. Weasley," Harry said. I almost hugged him for sticking up for my friends.

"That isn't the point! you just wait until I tell your mother-"

"Tell me what?"

My heart stopped for a moment. Mrs. Weasley had entered the kitchen just in time to hear Arthur's threat. It had been an EMPTY THREAT. He would have never told on his own sons knowing the havoc it would cause in the house, but now, it was ruined. There was no getting out of it now. "Oh hello, dears." she said upon seeing us. "Tell me what, Arthur?"

Mr. Weasley hesitated, not knowing whether to give up his sons to the monster that was his wife or to save them. While he was angry, nobody deserved to endure the wrath of Mrs. W. Not even Fred and George. Hermione and Ginny entered the kitchen together happily, stopping their skipping upon seeing Mrs. Weasley and Mr. Weasley. I smiled at Ginny, who smiled back, then turned scarlet as Harry smiled at her also. Ginny had the most awful crush on my brother imaginable, though I couldn't imagine why. Ginny was a sweet, smart, charasmatic, funny, pretty girl who would be breaking hearts someday. She could do SO MUCH better than my brother.

Don't tell him I thought that.

"Nothing Molly. Fred and George just - but I've had a word with them -"

"What have they done this time?" Mrs. Weasley demanded. "If this has got anything to do with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes…"

We all decided now would be a good time to show Harry and I where we would be sleeping though we all knew Harry would be in Ron's room and I would be with Ginny and Hermione. Still, we rushed up the stairs away from the angry mother. I mouthed, Sorry to George before I abandoned him.

After a brief explanation from Ginny, Ron and myself to Harry about what Weasley's Wizard Wheezes was, and a boring conversation with Percy (he aimed to change the world with his report to the ministry on cauldron thickness, apparently), we seperated ways. The sounds of Mrs. Weasley's shouts reached us up the stairs. I reckoned she had been told the story of Dudley and His Larger Than Usual Mouth.

Ginny had been booted out of the room by the trio, being the "annoying" younger sister Ron considered her, though I thought Hermione would have let her stay. Harry, too. Feeling bad for her, and out of place with the trio, I followed her back to her room where I would be staying for a while.

"Does this happen often?" I asked once settled.

"You mean mum being angry with Fred and George? It's almost a daily occurence in the summers," replied Ginny. "They just have a knack for pushing her buttons. Her biggest fear is that I'll be influenced by my older brother's and turn out like them."

"Oh, she's over-reacting. They aren't THAT horrible."

"No. It's nice to have Charlie back from Romania. Mum's been a bit easier around the house, she focuses on him mostly whenever he's around." Ginny said. "But what about you? Did your uncle really hit you?"

I hesitated to tell Ginny, but seeing her curious and pained face was enough to crack my doubt through the middle and burn it to the ground. Ginny just wanted to know. I would have told her if she was my real sister, and in a way, she was.

"Not hit me so much as shove me and let the floor do it for him," I said. "It's not uncommon really. I get the worst of it."

"Does Harry…"

"No, Harry rarely get's touched. I think since I'm the oldest, and I'm the female, and I'm the one with the "smart mouth" the walrus patience with me more easily than with Harry."

"Oh," she whispered. "That's awful."

"Be glad Harry doesn't get it too. Wouldn't want your future husbands face to be all messed up now, would you?" I teased. Ginny turned pink.

"That's ridiculous… husband… why, does he talk about me?" she asked eagerly. i felt bad for her.

"No, but trust me when I say he's a total idiot. Blind as a bat to a good thing in front of him, blinder than he is without his glasses on. Trust me when I say I'll be sitting at a wedding for you two in a few years, just give it time."

"You really think so?" she asked hopefully, face shining.

"Course I do! You should take my advice, I almost passed divination this year!"

"I think the yelling has stopped. Let's go see," Ginny said, now hopping with energy. Most likely eager to get a glimpse of her predicted "future husband." I would eat my underwear if they didn't get married one day.

If they do, Ginny and I will be sisters! I am so making that happen.

 **A/N:**

 **Hey all! This is the new chapter, I'm really excited for GOF in this series. I don;t know what you all see in it but whatever! Sorry that my updates take longer than it used to, but now I'm beginning high school and am dealing with the issues of being "secondary one." Meh.**

 **HUGE thanks to** _that red head girl 14_ **and** _MissesE_ **for being two of my only regular reviewers! I look forward to you awesomepuffs reviewing every chapter, thanks a million. Remember people, review like those epic people! Your reviews mean a lot to me.**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria**


	29. Chapter 27

Mrs. W was throwing a fit over the boys. She wasn't her usual self, but her usual self angry. All her actions were jerky and unpredictable, and a bit dangerous if I do say so. After Ginny nearly got her eye taken out she calmed down enough to cut the food properly. (With Ginny hiding in her room from her mum for the remainder of the time in which her Mrs. Weasley was holding a knife.) I didn't exactly fancy being near her while she was so angry, AND she had access to a sharp object either.

Ron and Harry ran outside to help Bill and Charlie. I ran back up the stairs to take cover with Ginny.

From the window, we watched Bill and Charlie have a table fight. It was quite the spectacle, until one of the tables was roughly demolished, and Ginny and I cheered loudly.

"Go Bill!" Ginny hollered from the window.

"You show that table who's boss!" I shouted after her. They looked up at us and waved, Mrs. Weasley's anger, the hostile mood everyone was in forgotten temporarily in the light of momentary fun.

Percy, of course, was the one to try and ruin our fun by telling us off. Prick.

"Why are you up there?" Harry asked goodnaturedly, looking from Ginny to me.

"We're obviously waiting for you to climb the balcony and start reciting that one sonnet from Romeo and Juliet!" I replied. Harry snapped his head to the side so he was no longer making eye contact with Ginny. "Ginny, is the sun…"

"Stop it you!" she laughed, hitting me hard on the arm. Harder than I thought such a frail little thing could hit. I guess growing up with five older brothers would toughen anyone up.

 _Percy doesn't count. He's more of an older sister._

We had all seated around the table, acutely aware of the tension between Mama Weasley and the twins. Soon it had melted away though, and everyone was arguing about something. I was talking to Charlie, Fred and George about the Quidditch World Cup.

"It's got to be Ireland." Charlie declared, mouth full of food, much like Ron. "They flattened Peru in the semifinals."

"Bulgaria's got Viktor Krum though," Fred contradicted. I nodded eagerly.

"I hope it's Bulgaria!" I said excitedly. I had always liked Bulgaria. Maybe it was the way I liked saying the country's name (Bulgaria. Say it out loud, it's fun! BULL-GARE-EE-AH!) or maybe it was just that I liked to contradict society, but I was routing for the Bulgarians. Бългapия за победа! (A/N: That is pronounced _Bulgaria za pobeda_ , and means "Bulgaria for the win." No, this is not off some website either. It is from my mind.)

Maybe it was just in my nature to route for the underdogs.

"Krum's one decent player. Ireland has got seven! I wish England had got through. That was embarassing, that was." said Charlie, so I stuck out my tongue at him.

The food was delicious, and tasted better than even the Hogwarts feast after everything I had been forced to endure at the Dursley house for months. One would think living off of birthday cake and sweets would be good, but it actually made me sick. I never wanted to touch birthday cake again.

Mrs. Weasley sent us up to bed with one last glare at Fred. It blew my mind that the match had gone on for five days the year previous. How could the players not collapse after five days of flying? It was astounding.

I lay in bed, excited about the Cup. Ginny had insisted that she was not helping me in my quest to spread Bulgaria supporters, so I was gicing her the cold shoulder until later that night when we whispered excitedly about our plans for the cup, and our prediction. Neither of us wanted to bet, though. I was saving every penny for useless merchandise I was sure to buy, and Ginny, while it was a touchy topic, really didn't have much money to waste. We finally shut up and went to bed when Hermione threw her pillow at us and threatened to hex us if we didn't let her go to bed.

Embarassing as it was, I didn't like my odds of getting in a fight against Hermione.

We were shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley in the early hours of the morning, the boys already downstairs, everyone groggy, myself the sole exception. I had always been a morning person for some reason: maybe it was just that I was naturally cheerful most days. Why would I be unhappy on a day like this, when I was about to go to the Quidditch Cup? It seemed impossible to be cranky. Yet Ginny had been very clear that if I kept being so perky within five feet of her she would rip my hair off. Sweet girl.

I skipped down the stairs for breakfast, feeling awful for Mrs. Weasley, who undoubtedly had to get up much earlier than anyone else and still wasn't complaining. She just took the abuse of everyone else giving her grief for waking them up.

"... are we walking to the World Cup?" asked Harry, drawing me back into the conversation. I had been engrossed in watching Hermione's unbrushed hair: it was even frizzier and scarier to look at.

"No, no, that's miles away. We only need to walk a short way, it's just that it's very difficult for a large number of wizards to congregate without attracting muggle attention. We have to be very careful about how we travel at the best of times, and at a huge event like the Quidditch World Cup-"

"George!" snapped Mrs. Weasley, glaring at a sheepish George.

"What?" said George in a false innocent tone, that was coated in panic. They were so BUSTED, whatever it was he was hiding.

"What is that in your pocket?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't you lie to me!" she scolded, pointing her wand and muttering Accio, drawing several brightly coloured candies out of his pockets. He made a mad snatch at them, but the Ton-Tongue-Toffees were whisked out of reach and into her clenched fists.

Painstakingly, both Fred and George were forced to empty their pockets. Mrs. Weasley then went on a rampage as she summoned them from so many unusual places it wasn't funny, including the underwear of George.

"We spent six months developping those!" protested Fred. My heart broke for them. This was their dream… they had worked so hard… how could Mrs. Weasley not understand that? How could she think they would ever give up on their dream? i tried to imagine them given up, at the Ministry, and the thought sent a shiver through me.

The atmosphere was bleak as the twins hoisted their sacks onto their shoulders, angry tears in both their eyes, glaring with as much hate possible. _At their family._ That was what made me the saddest. Their precious inventions… in the trash…

"Have a lovely time! Behave yourselves! I'll send Bill, Charlie, and Percy around about midday!" she waved from the doorframe, my mind clouded with sadness, pity, excitement, and anger at her. I couldn't stop thinking about those candies…

I had to do something. Their faces were angry, and they simply couldn't stay so angry at family. Family was precious! How did they not get that, either of them?

"Mr. Weasley!" I shouted in a rush of inspiration. "I forgot my galleon sack inside! I'm going to go get it!" I sprinted inside the house, dashing past Mrs. Weasley who was still waving at the door, straight to the garbage. Keeping one eye on the door to make certain she didn't follow me, I shovelled the candies into my bag by the handful, until I heard footsteps and stopped, took out my sack of galleons which was safely in my bag, and put them on the counter.

"Here it is, dear," she said in a motherly tone, handing me my sack. "Have a good time, and try to keep the boys in line."

I sprinted back out, still clutching the bag in my hand, fighting the urge to put a hand over the place where the twins toffees hid in my bag. If the zipper were to open, or she saw the lump in my bag, it would be clear what I had done. Guilt for cheating Mrs. Weasley was overcome by pride for helping my best friends.

It was a chilly afternoon, one that had me pulling my jacket tighter around me. I waited a while into the walk until I tugged on the sleeves of Fred and George, holding them back until we were walking a good seven paces behind the group. We were free to talk.

"What?" George demanded.

"Kal, we aren't exactly in the mood." Fred said roughly.

"Fine then," I marched away. Before I got out of earshot, I said, "I guess you don't want it."

"Want what?" George asked suspiciously. His eyes flickered to my empty palms, untrustingly.

"This," I grinned and looked around, deeming it safe enough to pull out a handful of the things I had taken from the trash. _One of these most likely touched George's underwear… ew... ew… ew…_

"Kal!" George whisper-yelled. "How…?"

"I dug them out of the trash when I "left my galleon sack" inside!" I stated proudly. They were quick to pile onto me in a hug.

"I love you!" Fred hollered loud enough for the gang to hear.

"We all saw this coming," Ron snickered. Fred and I lunged away from each other, embarassed.

"What's going on back there?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"Just excited for the game!" Fred said at the same time that George spoke.

"Fred's just declaring his undying love for Kal!"

Needless to say, I gave George a good kick before we got back on the road.

OoOoOoOoOo

 _Nope. Nope. Nope._ I thought, still panting from climbing the hill, looking around for the port key. I didn't even know what I was looking for! This was child cruelty. Why… why couldn't I be older so I could apparate?

"Over here, Arthur! Over here, son, we've got it." called a man from the other side of where I was searching. Two tall figures stood against the still starry sky, one with an arm raised towards us.

"Amos!" we all followed Mr. Weasley over to the two people. "This is Amos Diggory, everyone. He works for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magial Creatures. I think you know his son, Cedric Diggory?"

I did know Cedric Diggory. He was an incredibly handsome boy in our year. I heard Alicia had a huge crush on him. He was a phenomenal Quidditch player, but I heard he had a thing for Cho Chang. Shame.

"Hi," said Cedric, looking shyly at us all.

Everyone responded appropriately besides Fred and George, who had never forgiven him for beating Gryffindor a while back. As much as I tried to convince them that they couldn't hate Hufflepuff forever for winning a single match, they didn't listen, and they didn't like him. They gave a harsh nod.

"All these yours, Arthur?" Amos nodded at us kids.

"Just the redheads! This is Hermione, friend of Ron's, and Harry, another friend…"

"Harry POTTER?"

"Er - yeah," said Harry, being as shy as he was. To get the attention off of him, he pointed at me. "That's my sister."

"Wow, Arthur! The Potter's!" Amos chuckled. "Ced's talked about you of course, Harry. Told us all about playing against you last year, I said to him, I said - Ced, that'll be something to tell your grandchildren, that will… You beat Harry Potter!"

I didn't like the arrogance this man displayed, but in a way, he was right. He was also doing an awful good job of ignoring the murderous glares Fred and George were giving him.

"Harry fell off his broom, dad, I told you, it was an accident."

"Yes but you didn't fall off, did you? Always modest, our Ced, always the gentleman… but the best man won, I'm sure Harry would say the same, wouldn't you, eh? One falls off his broom, one stays on, it doesn't take a genius to tell which one's the better flier!"

After a bit more chit-chat that had my mind reeling, I realized Cedric was looking at me with a smile on his face. A polite smile.

No, I was not in the Cedric Diggory fan club (which was a thing) but his smile was super cute, and I thought he would be a good friend, so I gave my most friendly nod in his direction as we waited.

We crowded around the boot and held onto it, all of us. I tried not to laugh at how odd we must look, all of us holding a dirty old boot before six in the morning. It happened without warning. I felt a pull in my gut, a painful one, and was jerked off my feet by an invisible force, my eyes forced closed by the wind that howled in my ears. Someone was bashing into my side, someone much heavier than me, and I could feel Ginny's arms flailing around near me. I tried to latch onto something, only to grab some _one_ by the arm.

Suddenly, my hand became unnatached to the boot so I was free falling into the ground… my fall cushioned by four outstretched arms so I didn't quite hit the ground. It was actually quite remarkable how the arms were holding me above the ground I had almost ploughed into, supporting my back so I was leaning into them to stop myself. Once the dissiness resided (good news was, my birds were back) I straightened and looked at my saviors.

Fred, naturally, was one of them, and he knew it too, since he was wearing a cocky grin. The other was Cedric.

Fred stoppped smiling once he saw that. In fact, he was _glaring._

"Thank you so much!" I breathed at the two of them, holding an arm out to Fred, who was on the ground. Cedric was amazingly standing up without help. So was Harry, the smooth ass.

"Seven past five from Stoathead Hill," said a voice.

 **A/N:**

 **LET ME STOP YOU RIGHT THERE, WONDERFUL READERS. There will be no Cedric/Kal relationship ROMANTICALLY at any point during this fanfiction. Let me promise you that. It might seem like it at certain intervals but it will never happen, you know why? Lemme enlighten you.**

 **I feel bad for Cedric. He's used so often as a tool in these fanfictions. A tool to get the REAL love interest jealous. It's so convinient because he doesn't have an official girlfriend (unless you count Cho) and his relationship with Cho Chang isn't a huge part of the story anyway, so it can easily be changed. Also, he's handsome and likeable so he is easy to use as a tool for girls to like, and guys to be jealous of. Not to mention this: HE DIES. Cedric dies, so there is no mess at the end.**

 **This is how it goes in too many fics: Cedric and girl get together. Boy becomes jealous and realizes feelings. There is either a fight or not one. Girl is happy with Cedric but wonders about boy. Cedric takes to ball. Cedric dies in third challenge. Boy cannot be angry with girl anymore since her boyfriend just DIED, and you can't be mad at a dead boy, so everything is good, but the plot has been moved along because somewhere they realize their "feelings."**

 **POOR CED. HE'S A GOOD PERSON.**

 **So none of that'll be happening. Maybe a little Jealousy but that is where it ends.**

 **Review my lovelies! Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria 3**


	30. Chapter 28

A/N: There is a lot of dialogue in the canon version chapters but I don't have the energy to write it all, so I'm skipping most of it. Hope you don't mind!

Walking past all the tents was a lot of fun. Seeing the people who supported different teams was also fun. From weirdo's with dyed skin to children the age of four years old to old men with megaphones roamed the place, each one interesting to observe, though a bit scary admittedly. I would not want to get lost in this place, that was for sure. I didn't have a high tolerance for oddballs.

At the very edge of the wood's, a sign was hammered in front of a small space reading "WEEZLY."

Oddly enough, nobody but me seemed upset about it.

We got to work with the tent, or more, Harry, Hermione, and I got to work and Mr. Weasley almost broke his hand with a mallet which I was forced to confiscate from him for all our well being. He got a tad excited, you could say. Finally we had made two shabby looking tents.

"That'll no way hold eleven people," George observed.

"Um… Mr. W?" I asked politely.

"We'll be a bit cramped, but I think we can all squeeze in. Come and have a look." he crawled in, and I followed after Harry.

My mind was blown for the millionth time that day. The inside of the tent was not a tiny dark space like I had expected but a three room flat, including a bathroom and a kitchen. Pretty good tent, I would say. It coincidentally looked a lot like our neighbours home, where we were dropped whenever the Dursley's went on a vacation. (I would burn the house down if they left me alone and they knew it.)

"Well. It's not for long," Mr. Weasley said brightly. "I borrowed this from Perkins at the office. Doesn't camp much anymore, poor fellow, he's got lumbago. We'll need water."

"There's a tap marked on this map the muggle man gave us, dad," Ron spoke, holding up the map like it was a relic. "On the other side of the field."

He sent the golden trio to get water, leaving the rest of us to wander around the campsite.

"Aw! Why does the ladies tent not smell like cat?" George complained loudly.

"Chivalry, George," Mr. Weasley responded. "We wouldn't want the girls to be smelling like cat, would we?"

"What about ME?" he complained.

"It'll be a pleasant change from your usual stench," I replied with a smirk.

I went to watch the morning unfold. So many wizards and witches, more than I had even thought existed, walked around in the city of tents. The morning mist lifted slowly, my hand trailing after it, wanting to follow it and see where it would take me, but I didn't dare lose my way in a large place like this. A young boy, about five, nearly stepped on my foot chasing an ant through the grass. His sister really did step on me following him.

Fred and George invited me to go have a look around, so we set off carefully. I took it all in, watching the people attempt to make fires in the early morning, cooking breakfast. Wasn't long until a boy, perhaps eighteen years old, approached our gang. He was wearing pink trousers and a hideous bright green jersey, obviously inexperienced in the ways of muggle dressing. His eyes were also glazed over and he had a glass in his hands. This guy was completely intoxicated.

"Macy!" he called, waving at me. I jumped away in fear. _The hell is Macy?_

"Um… hi…"

"Macy, what're you doing here?" he shouted again, words slurring. I felt the grip George had on my wrist tighten, and I was grateful.

"I think you have me confused with someone else-"

"Are you breaking up with me?"

"Listen bud, I don't know you." I snapped. Nobody said I was patient. I was actually quite short-tempered with drunkards. "So I suggest you get away before-"

The mysterious drunk pulled me into a hard snog.

For three long seconds, my mind was blank, I was frozen where I had been dragged. Legs locked firmly underneath me. Spine straight. Unmoving. Brain not working.

 _liuywlki_

 _ewliugfy edwuwye_

 _What is happening ougyeqwol?_

I was honestly incapable of forming a coherent thought. Slowly, at the pace of your average slug, my mind caught up with what was happening. At the same time, the boy's hand travelled south, shocking me out of my stupor. With a yelp, my foot flew out and connected with his leg, making him stumble away, giving me the opportunity to run.

"What the HELL?" Fred demanded once I stopped.

"That bloke was totally drunk," said George. "Idiot."

"I'll kill him if I see him again." snarled Fred.

"It's fine," I said.

Although it gave me a nice feeling to know they cared so much about my safety around random guys.

"It is not fine! He was a molester! It's illegal, we could probably have him arrested…" answered Fred stubbornly.

"Calm down, he's just a drunk twit."

"I'll still kill him."

"KAL! FRED! GEORGE!"

That was what I heard before a body barrelled into mine, taking me to the ground. I choked out a clot of dust that had somehow been wedged in my throat, completely ready to kick somebody again, only to see it was Angelina who was on top of me.

"Kal! I told you I'd be here, I just didn't expect to find you so quickly!"

"Hey Angie!" I laughed. "This is so awesome out here!"

"I know! Ireland is going to bring home the win."

"Oh yeah?" I said with a little verve in my speech, hoping she got my drift that I was for the Bulgarians. Her face showed a bit of that competitive vibe I knew from her.

"There are some colorful characters around here! You could just sit and watch them all day." Angelina sighed, looking at the row of tents, the beautiful chaos around us. "Hey, did you see that poor codger wandering around here earlier? He called my brother Macy! Thick in the head, he was."

I laughed uncomfortably, shooting a horrible look at the twins to shut them up. Fred's face had sunken into a deep scowl, and George was torn between anger and amusement.

"We… yeah, we certainly saw him…"

"He snogged Kal and called her Macy, so yeah, he's a molester and should be arrested!" blurted out Fred.

Angelina looked truly dumbfounded for a moment. A horrible moment in which I thought she would side with Fred in his ridiculously protective state and insist on calling authorities. Instead she started giggling hysterically.

"What a tool! Merlin, this is… too… funny!"

"Have you all gone crazy?" Fred demanded, something glinting in his eye. "He could be out there, raping a girl just like Kalmine, and nobody even cares!"

"Calm down Fred, he wasn't a lunatic as far as I know, just intoxicated," Angelina rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I don't think he could hold down a kitten for long in the state he's in, much less a person." Oddly enough, he seemed mollified. "Tell me again… he just…"

"Yep."

Another round of giggles poured from her mouth, and this time, I joined in.

OoOoOoOoOo

We got back to the tent before the others, a fairly long bit of time passed before they returned. Not that we were bored. Watching Mr. Weasley try to light a fire was entertainment enough. He had such enthusiasm, but he failed so miserably, that it was almost sad at the same time as it was being funny. Especially since he looked so content with the broken matches laying around him in a circle.

With a little help from myself (I had a vast experience setting things on fire), and Hermione (she had "read multiple books" on camping) we got a small fire going and waited for the things we set out on it to cook. Mr. Weasley kept a running commentary on the passing people that the other gingers didn't deem interesting, but was fascinating to me.

Just as I dug into my meal, sitting next to Fred happily, the others came.

"Ah, excellent, lunch!" Percy said as means of greeting.

"Your welcome," muttered Fred. I decided not to remind him that he had done absolutely nothing but watch us struggle with the fire and laugh, instead settling back with my upper body in his lap so I could eat comfortably. I ignored the familiarly devilish look George was shooting us, and I tried to ignore him as he nudged Ron to take a look. I also tried really, really hard to not see Charlie and Bill whispering and looking at us with amusement in their eyes. It was all I could do not to spring away from Fred, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, and, well, I was really comfortable and lazy at the same time so I didn't want to move.

Mr. Weasley got up and waved to a man in horrific Quidditch robes. "Aha! Ludo Bagman, the man of the moment!"

Ludo was the most noticeable person around, including the person who had snogged me, and that guy who had dyed his face green to support Ireland. With even more horrible robes up close, they stretched over his watermelon sized belly that was sticking out in front of him. His face was misproportioned, his nose squashed into his face oddly, like he had been beaten with a baseball bat.

"Arthur, old man, what a day, eh? Could we have asked for more perfect weather? A cloudless night coming, and hardly a hiccough in the arrangement… hardly a thing for me to do!"

A jet of purple flame at least twenty feet high erupted from a far off campsite, contradicting his previous statement of having "nothing to do", making me dislike him off the bat. It was his job to pay attention. Percy rushed forward with his arm stretched to shake hands, all comments of not liking him the previous day thrown out of regard. I had half a mind to bring it up if he pulled anything funny with the twins later.

"Ah yes! This is my son, Percy, he just started at the Ministry. This is Fred - no, George, sorry - that's Fred, Bill, Charlie, Ron - my daughter Ginny, and Ron's friends. Hermione Granger and Harry Potter. Oh yes, and that's Fred and George's friend, Kal Potter."

Ludo Bagman gave a double take at our names, or mostly Harry's to be honest, flinching slightly.

"Everyone, this is Ludo Bagman, you know who he is, it's thanks to him we've got such good tickets." said Mr. Weasley. I grinned, catching Ludo's eyes.

"Fancy a flutter on the match, Arthur? I've already got Rodney Potner -"

I was pulled in a hurry to the side along with Fred and George, who had their heads bent in conversation. "What is this?" I asked.

"We want to bet our savings!" George announced.

The absurdity of it was just like the twins. "You can't gamble all your savings on a bet! What if you lose?"

"We won't, we're geniuses!" Fred decided. "We're doing it."

They broke away from the huddle, leaving me to wonder about the state their sanity was in. Who on this green earth bet all their hard earned savings on a Quidditch bet? Unless you were a Seer, how was it even possible to not get burned with such odds? They were idiots. Well, I wouldn't fund them if they lost all their money! _Stop lying to yourself, you know you'll give them the money they lost, and they'll be too embarrassed to take any of it, and you'll sneak it into the store vault they created so they can't turn it down._

I hated how my brain was so honest sometimes. But it was the truth: I would do anything for the Weasley's. They had given me something more valuable than Galleons, they had given me a family. They had given me love. How could I not try, with everything I possessed, to pay that debt back? I had been a scared, unloved little girl who didn't realize she had any value in the world before I met the Weasley's.

"We'll bet thirty-seven Galleons, fifteen Sickles, three Knuts," listed Fred as he and George unloaded the money they had with them. "That Ireland wins but Viktor Krum gets the Snitch. Oh, and we'll throw in a fake wand."

Bagman grabbed the wand greedily, a childlike joy shining in his eyes, only to see it turn into a rubber chicken before his eyes. "Excellent! I haven't seen one that convincing in years, I'd pay good money for that!"

"Boys, I don't want you betting… all your savings… your mother…"

"Don't be a spoilsport, Arthur!" boomed Bagman.

George accepted the sheet of paper from the man I was not particularly fond of, and happily flounced over to Fred.

"Well congratulations boys, you've screwed yourself over." I said.

"We have not!" Fred said. "We looked at all past Quidditch seasons involving Ireland and Bulgaria to make this bet! Ireland has a rubbish Seeker but that doesn't compare to Krum, but Ireland also has ruddy great Chasers! Krum's way too good to NOT catch the Snitch, but he usually catches it after a long while-"

"-in which Ireland will have gained ground against Bulgaria with their amazing Chasers and Keeper against Bulgaria's mediocre ones, so even if he does catch it, they'll be too far ahead to get it! It's all a matter of statistics!"

My jaw dropped open with a hollow thump. No way had they put so much thought and EFFORT into it. No possible way they had just said something so smart… almost RAVENCLAW smart.

"Nerds!"

"You get back here!" hollered Fred, pulling me into his lap in the grass. I leaned my head back on his shoulder, still baffled by it all. "We are not "nerds" just because we're geniuses."

"Somebody's got a big head,"

"You love my head." he bragged. "My head is gorgeous."

"Is gorgeous a new word for looking-like-a-hippo-rump? If so, your head is GORGEOUS."

 **A/N:**

 **This was a fluffy filler chapter, but I sort of like it. Leave me feedback! Come on, I love my regular reviewers, but why is everyone else gone? *cries***

 **XD, Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria**


	31. Chapter 29

Funny how the aura around a person can change everything about a place. I've seen it happen before. Fred, George, and I all laughing and having a grand old time, then Percy walks in, and BAM, all fun is sucked from the room until he leaves. He just has that aura. Barty Crouch has an aura very similar to Percy's, anybody could tell why HE idolized this man. Though Barty was a complete twat on my scale.

Dressed in a plain suit and tie, it was obvious he was dressed to impress, and not up for anything like fun. The fact that he wanted to impress people so badly at a Quidditch game turned me off him right off the bat.

 _Uncle Vernon would approve._

Fred pulled me closer into him, putting both arms over my head, as if he were shielding me from this man's blandness. If boring was infectious, I could see why.

"Pull up a bit of grass, Barty!" Ludo cheerfully said.

"No, thank you, Ludo," answered Barty impatiently. "I've been looking for you everywhere. The Bulgarians are insisting we add another twelve seats to their top box."

"Oh, is that what they're after? I thought the chap was asking for a pair of tweezers. Bit of a strong accent." (A/N: I AM A BULGARIAN! AND WE DO NOT HAVE SUCH ACCENTS, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, идиот!)

"Mr. Crouch!" breathed Percy. He was hunched as if attempting to… to BOW to Mr. Crouch. Fred's arms tightened further. "Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yes - thank you, Weatherby."

Fred released me slightly to choke into his arm, nearly spilling scalding hot tea on me in the process. I couldn't contain my giggles as I laughed into my palm. _Weatherby?_

"-it's happening at Hogwarts-"

"What is?" I blurted out. I suddenly felt embarrassed as I remembered it must look odd to them, my sitting nearly in FRED'S LAP, his arms around me to ward away their lameness. They just didn't comprehend that we had a relationship in which this stuff was fairly usual.

"What's happening at Hogwarts, dad?" Fred asked once they left. I nodded eagerly, the curiosity all consuming.

We did not get an answer. Just the usual "classified information" from Percy, which received a prompt "Shut up Weatherby" from Fred.

Wasn't long until I had been dragged out into the shop cart's with awesome merchandise to browse, Fred and George not having any money to spend after having gambled it all away. They only had their hats from before we came, and the face paint they already had on. I was quick to buy a Bulgarian scarf with the roaring lion on it ("I don't know if we can sit with a Bulgarian lover") and a sweater with Viktor Krum's name flashing on it in red.

We found Harry, Ron, and Hermione leaving the Ominocular stand. "Ominaculars, they can replay any part of the game, can zoom out, zoom in, you name it!"

I was quick to slap down thirty Galleons to buy one for each of us. On a whim, I bought one for Angelina, too. It would make a nice Christmas gift.

"No, we'll just look with our eyes -" insisted George uncomfortably. The sales lady rolled her eyes at us.

"Related to those kids, aren't you?"

"How did you-?" I demanded, only to be cut off.

"Lucky guess."

"Oh come on! You'll miss the best part of the game!" I argued, accepting the Ominoculars from the lady and beginning to walk away.

'That's really expensive, Kal. We don't… I don't have money to pay you back…" Fred stuttered. My face softened. I knew they felt awkward discussing our seperate financial situations, and that they did not like the fact that I had more money than they did. I quite enjoyed having something more than them for once, I had often wished to just once know more, be more than a Weasley. But not in this way… this was didn't count.

"I already bought them. So not taking them now would be wasting my money. How rude of you!" I taunted, holding them out. After a shared look and a brief moment of hesitation, they slowly took the offerings, I grinned.

"Why'd you buy four?" asked George uncomfortably.

"For Angelina: I owe her five Galleons for that bet I lost last year on our Quidditch match anyway," I explained happily.

"That's a whole extra five Galleons!"

"Friends don't have to _count_ so closely, Georgie! What are friends for?"

We skipped on down the road back to our tents, my money bag much lighter than before, my mood much lighter also. No matter what I did, I couldn't get Fred to stop looking at me with that mingled look of shock and admiration. It made me feel weird. What was there to admire?

"You are such a _good person,"_ he whispered once we were back at camp, some emotion I couldn't determine in his voice. The events of last year flooded back into my mind, making me shimmy awkwardly away from his close proximity.

"I'm not that great, Fred." I said. "Okay, yes I am, but still."

"I'm not _joking,"_

"Why am I a good person, Fred? I bought my _friends_ something at a game because they had no money after betting it all away like dimwits, and I happen to be a rich little witch who has nothing to do with daddy's money, so she spends it everywhere! And no matter how stupid it was to bet it away, you still deserve to have the best time possible." I hissed, not liking the touchy-feely junk about my being such a "good person" when I wasn't. I had meant every word I said.

"You aren't a little witch who spends daddy's money." Fred frowned.

"Yes I am. When did I EVER, ONCE IN MY LIFE, do something to make me better than other's? DO anything to get that money so I could spend it?"

He thought for a while before he spoke. In those moments, my heart plumetted. Because while I may have been arguing against it, I really wanted Fred to tell me why he thought I was a good person. "There are plenty of people out there with money who don't use it for anything nice, or good, or kind. It's what you do with what you have that defines your goodness, not how you got it."

"That was very wise of you, Freddie."

"Shut up!"

But it was. How could I even begin to explain to this boy what he… what his family… meant to me? They had given me something more than Ominoculars, yet they couldn't even see it. How could I tell him what I would be without him? What I would have turned into without the love and happiness I recieved from going to the Burrow? There was no explaining something like that to someone who had always had it. But I could try.

" **Fred, your entire family has given me much more than money can buy, and I'm not just talking about Mrs. W's fantastic cooking. You don't have ANY IDEA how lost and alone and spiteful I was before I met you! It's hard to exist without love! Most days, I would wake up and want to pitch myself off the roof because, guess what? When you live with a family that beats you, and tells you you're a stupid, ugly, horrible little girl who will never amount to anything, who's worthless, you begin to believe it! For a while, I did believe it! I believed that this world would be a better place without me, that I should just kill myself, because nobody would give a damn if I did, because I felt worthless. My own family hated me… my uncle would tell me I was an idiot, would lock me in my room, my aunt would slap me and yell that I should just die, my cousin would shoot his toy gun in my direction and LAUGH like a maniac, yelling that one day he would get a real gun. What scared me was that there were days when I wished it was a real gun.**

" **And then I met you and George, and for the first time I had friends! Your family took me in and loved me! I began to believe that maybe I didn't have to believe that I was… everything they had always told me I was… that I shouldn't have to die just because they told me to…**

" **And there are still days when I believe it! I sit down and think about everything and I come to the conclusion that I don't deserve to live while others are dead, and that since they hate me so much, there has to be something wrong with me! The ONLY THINGS that have kept me from pointing my wand at myself and ending it on some days are these: Harry. I couldn't do it to Harry. He can't… he CAN'T handle more loss than he's already suffered, Fred.**

" **The second thing was your bloody family. I would think: Well, the Weasley's would miss me. And then I would tell myself that you were all wrong about me, that I did deserve to go, until I remembered that I must be doing something right if you all loved me. Until I remembered that you people were ten times the people those Dursley's were, so why should I believe what they said over what you did?**

" **So there's always this… ugh, how do I even explain this… there's always this debt hanging over my head, and it hurts, because no matter what I do, I can never ever repay you! How do you repay something like that? Money's worthless in this situation. Literally worthless."**

 _The Weasley's Saved My Life._ That would be a smashing book title if I could get it into print.

Somewhere along the line, I realized ret hot tears had burned their way into my eyes as the sheer impact of what I was admitting to hit me, and it hit me that I didn't exaggerate once in that heart-warming story. My life had been awful. Harry hadn't gotten half of what I did, for some reason. They hated me more. It had always been that way.

Once, Petunia had accidentally called me Lily. She had sent me to my room after punching me with her knuckles on the face. For something she herself had said. This was when I was only six. It hadn't occurred to me how unfair this all was until I saw how different some kids had it years later with the Weasley's. I had just accepted it as a fact of life.

You could say I had been a depressed child.

A heavy silence settled over us. The other's were still chatting mindlessly on about some stupid thing or another while we had this long overdue feeling talk. It could have been comical had the tears not still been threatening to spill over.

Sneaking a peek at Fred's face, I suddenly wished I had never spoken in the first place. It was a mix of so many things that I couldn't tell where one thing ended and where the other began. Sadness, anger, empathy… and love. I convinced myself as hard as I could that it was just friendly love, even if I wished desperately it wasn't for some reason.

"I…" he gulped, eyes wide. "I really… really had no idea about any of that. You had always been so happy… acted so cheerful and like nothing ever got to you...:"

"Well it does!" I snapped. "Still does, actually, but now I have reasons to act strong instead of pitying myself."

"They were idiots, Kalmine." Fred had used my real name. He was so damned serious right now was what it meant. "Don't you ever, I mean ever, tell yourself you're worthless or I will personally hunt you down. And you know how determined I get. I'm not scared to be super creepy and put a tracking charm on you." I let out a teary laugh. Only Fred could make me laugh in a time like this. "You are not worthless. If you were to kill yourself… I don't know what I'd do. What any of us would do."

"I know that, but…"

"No buts! Or the tracking charm will be placed!" Fred put his head on my shoulder, slinging an arm around me and laughing hoarsely. "Tell me if you ever think about things like that again."

"I don't usually anymore… just…"

"Just when you're with the Dursley's." he finished coldly. Now his eyes were brewing with hate, hate and anger beyond anything I had ever seen in him before. How could I even believe he was the Fred I knew? The Fred I knew and loved would never be capable of feeling as much loathing as his eyes revealed he did. "We should have done so much worse than given your cousin that Toffee."

"I'm really okay now," I tried. Mostly I just wanted Fred to not treat me differently. I also wanted to stop him from worrying so much - I was stronger now than I had been all those years ago. I could deal with them now.

"I wish you didn't have to go back there. Maybe if you told-"

"No!" I said desperately, pulling Fred up short. "I don't want to tell anyone."

"But-"

"No. Not even George. Understand?"

"... yes."

"Want to test our Ominoculars?"

"Of course I do!" Suddenly excited, Fred eagerly put them to his eyes and looked at me. I playfully stuck my tongue out at the camera, then waved happily, a fresh gust of wind knocking my hair into my face, drawing a laugh from the camera man. I spit out my hair and grinned, thinking how perfect this one moment was. How if I had the choice, I would put this moment in a jar, and save some of this feeling for later. So when I was feeling sad, I could open the jar and feel it again. This feeling that wasn't excited or just happy… it was as if nothing could hurt me, nothing could go wrong, because all I felt was that pure bliss that worked it's way into my soul, and all I knew was that I wanted to feel it forever.

 **A/N:**

 **YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS CHAPTER. I'M SERIOUS. NOT BECAUSE I FIND IT THAT WELL-WRITTEN but because we get to see a new side of Kalmine... allow me to explain. XD**

 **I felt like she was sort of two dimensional. She only had about one layer to her personality in the stories: since I created her, I could see she had more, but I never got a chance to put it in the story or it wouldn't flow... but I wanted to show a bit, so here it is! I'm proud of how I worked that in. ;) Don't get used to it too much, Kal is still herself! I'm NOT doing that cliche depressed teen thing.**

Stay awesome,

Forever Maria


	32. Chapter 30

The trek to the pitch was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever experienced. Being surrounded by all those happy people, with the excitement crackling in the air around us all, as you speak to your friends and laugh, it felt light a paradise. A very largely populated paradise.

Now, this all glamour dimmed once you got to see the actual pitch. Then I knew nothing would ever be able to compare to this very pitch: quite possibly the most glorious thing I had ever laid eyes on. Yes, the Quidditch Pitch. In my sanity's defense, it was gigantic, and carpeted in rich purple fabric. People mulled around everyone to get to their seats. I couldn't quite suppress a shiver of excitement: I was going to be in the same space as Viktor Krum! Not to mention all these other legends, breathing the same air as me! God, I knew it wasn't normal, but I didn't care!

"Seats a hundred thousand," said Mr. Weasley, spotting the amazed look on my brothers' face face. "Ministry task force of five hundred have been working on it all year. Muggle Repelling Charms on every inch of it. Every time Muggles have got anywhere near here all year, they've suddenly remembered urgent appointments and had to dash away again, bless them."

We were directed to our seats, where I had a much better view of the activity going on down there. It was loud, Merlin! Advertisement much like on muggle television flashed across the field.

While Harry conversed with a house-elf (I can't imagine why), I flipped through a program. Let me tell you, Hermione is a much faster reader than I am. Before I could even get on that page, she was reading out loud from it. Godric.

"'A display from the team mascots will precede the match!"

"Oh that's always worth watching," said Mr. Weasley. "National teams bring creatures from their native land, you know, to put on a bit of a show."

"What would they have for Bulgaria, I wonder?" I said.

"It's different every year, depending on which teams are playing," Hermione said. I rolled my eyes: I had known that!

Suddenly, Fudge approached us and decided it would be a good time to get all "close and personal" with Harry. It didn't take a genius, or Hermione, to see why. On either side of him where people from different countries. "Harry Potter, you know," he told the Bulgarian minister loudly. "Harry Potter...oh come on now, you know who he is...the boy who survived You-Know-Who...you do know who he is -"

The man saw Harry's scar and started pointing excitedly. I grinned and made eye contact with him.

"Knew we'd get there in the end," said Fudge wearily to Harry. "I'm no great shakes at languages; I need Barty Crouch for this sort of thing. Ah, I see his house-elf's saving him a seat...Good job too, these Bulgarian blighters have been trying to cadge all the best places...ah, and here's Lucius!"

I froze. If Lucius Malfoy was here… then it meant he was probably dragging that little terror, Draco Malfoy, with him.

Ah, Fudge," said Mr. Malfoy, holding out his hand as he reached the Minister of Magic. "How are you? I don't think you've met my wife, Narcissa? Or our son, Draco?"

"How do you do, how do you do?" said Fudge. "And allow me to introduce you to Mr. Oblansk - Obalonsk - Mr. - well, he's the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and he can't understand a word I'm saying anyway, so never mind. And let's see who else - you know Arthur Weasley, I daresay?"

"Good lord, Arthur," he said softly. "What did you have to sell to get seats in the Top Box? Surely your house wouldn't have fetched this much?"

Fudge, who wasn't listening, said, "Lucius has just given a very generous contribution to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Arthur. He's here as my guest."

"How - how nice," said Mr. Weasley with strain in his voice. I felt for him. If I was an adult and still had to deal with Malfoy, I would be very unhappy about it as well.

They left to my relief. I didn't have time to make a witty remark (as if I could think of one at this point) because they were announcing the start. Excitement jumped and furled within me, making my body tremor again. Was it normal to do that?

"Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

We all screamed our approval. Fred and George, especially, were trying to make as much noise as humanly possible.

"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"

"I wonder what they've brought," said Mr. Weasley, leaning forward in his seat. "Aaah!" Then he jumped back against the back of his chair and whipped off his glasses - didn't he want to see the mascots? "Veela!"

"What are veela?" Asked Harry. He never got his answer.

A hoard of beautiful women came walking - no, they weren't walking - gliding into the stadium. They were stunning with their golden-blond hair fanning out behind them, the perfection of their moon white skin that didn't appear to belong to any human I had ever seen before. I clapped as they danced half-heartedly, my ego taking hits just by being near women like this.

The boys were going nuts. I could see why Mr. Weasley, a married man, would take off his glasses when he did. Ron was shredding all his Irish memorabilia. The twins were just standing there with dreamy looks on their faces, which aggravated me. I smacked Fred on the head to snap him out of it.

It worked. He was looking around in confusion now, but was promptly sucked back into their evil dance of beauty. I huffed.

That wasn't my biggest concern though. My little brother was… what was he doing? It took me a second to digest his leg up on the end of the box, ready to jump. It took me only another second to lash out with my arm and grab him before he could do it.

"What?" he said.

"Never jump off the top box for a girl, Harry," I told him. Isn't my sisterly advice lovely?

What a pity, the Veela had to dance and skip their way off the field, out of the eyesight of Harry and Fred. Oh, woe is me. Not.

"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

A display I could appreciate more came next, the Leprechauns. In a gorgeous burst of golden and green light, gold rained down on us like a summer shower in London.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!"

A/N:

Hey my awesomepuffians! Again, I am so sorry for the boring and short chapter, and for the lack of updates, but I'm a very busy person who also happens to be going through major writers block. See, I hate doing all this re-telling and cannot wait to just GET THEM BACK TO HOGWARTS, ALREADY and on with the plot. The LESS BORING and less constricting plot.

VERY IMPORTANT: If you have any ideas for things you want to see later in the story, leave me a PM! I will probably use it if I can fit it in! Especially smaller events that might go down this year would be appreciated because aside from the yule ball and the tri-wizard stuff, there's nothing I have planned. Except for… WAIT! I ALMOST GAVE IT AWAY! XD This year will probably be short as far as chapter numbers go, because I have a feeling the ones after this are going to be much better! Thanks, stay awesome!

Forever Maria


	33. Chapter 31

We practically skipped back down to our tent after the game, high on the success of Fred and George's gamble. I was disappointed that Bulgaria had lost, even if they had caught the snitch, but I thought I would survive the heartbreak. Suddenly the sign saying "Weezley" wasn't so bad anymore!

Of course, the Irish were celebrating. Irish celebrating seemed to involve a lot of off-key singing and liquor, not that I minded. It was a nice change from the staircase of the Dursley family. Nobody really wanted to go to bed, not after such an exciting night, so Mr. Weasley grudgingly admitted us all a cup of cocoa before turning in for the night.

I sipped very, very slowly. I was not tired.

"Ginny? Are you awake?" I nudged the redhead who was face-down on the table with my elbow. Her head shot up and then fell back down with the weight of exhaustion, her cocoa went spilling all over the floor.

Mr. Weasley sent us all to bed after that. I said I wasn't tired, but I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

"Get up! Get up!" hissed Mr. Weasley, shaking me awake. The second my eyes fluttered open, he started viciously shaking Hermione. "It's urgent! Get your coats and get outside, right now."

Something about his tone made us hurry. Mr. Weasley never used a voice like that, not even with the twins! The second I stepped foot outside, my mouth dropped in horror at the sight before my eyes.

People were hovering above the heads of cloaked figures, light of all colors shooting in all directions. Those people crumbled like rag dolls when they were hit, and were flung around as if they really were inanimate. Screams and cries filled the air, replacing the singing and celebrating.

"That is sick," said Ron. Something made me think he wasn't using the slang term that meant awesome.

Mr. Weasley ordered us into the woods as he ran off to help the ministry. Fred took Ginny's hand and pulled the crying girl through the trees as the rest of us ran. My heart went out to her; she was younger than everybody here, and was probably scared out of her underpants. I knew I was! But there was no way I was crying in front of these people. Fred and George would hold it above my head later.

We kept running. When we finally stopped to look around, panting and leaning against trees deep into the forest, there was no Harry, Ron, or Hermione anywhere to be seen.

"I swear, if Harry convinced them to go play hero-" I hissed.

"Hermione's smarter than that, she would've come back!" Ginny said nervously, wiping away at her tears.

"We should look for them! It's not good to be split up with everything going on!" I said.

"Are you crazy? It's also not good to be wandering around in this!" George argued. I scowled.

"But-"

"We'll go back to the tent and find Charlie and Bill. The other's will catch up. Come on!" Interrupted Fred, once again pulling Ginny with him. She looked over her shoulder, looking for something but not finding it. Most likely her brother, her friend, and her love interest being missing was worrying her.

Before we could even get back to the tent, there was a chorus of louder screams and a gigantic light raising above the trees at a distance. What was it? It looked sort of like… like…

"The dark mark." I whispered in horror.

There was a beat of silence before Fred and George sprung to action even faster than before. Fred had grabbed my wrist and was now pulling both me and Ginny after him towards the tents. "Faster!"

"What is they're over there?" I pleaded. "You know what that sign means!"

"Yes, I do! It belongs to the man who killed your parents and wants to kill you and your brother! Does it sound like a good idea to deliberately run towards it?" He said.

"What is it?" Ginny cried out. "What's a dark mark?"

"A very bad sign!" George said. With a few final steps, we dove inside a tent and directly into Bill and Charlie Weasley. They were quick to help us all to our feet, paying special attention to poor Ginny.

Bill looked at us all with horror in his face. "What just happened out there? Dad told us to stay here in case you came back. Should I-"

"No!" said Ginny. "Don't leave! Harry, Ron, and Hermione haven't come back yet! We lost them!"

Bill and Charlie went white, then looked at each other. "What happened?" They said in unison, as if they were the twins, but now was no time for those sorts of jokes.

"The dark mark was conjured in the forest," I informed. They both gasped.

"What is that, anyway?" Ginny asked, calmer now that she was back and somewhat safe.

"You-Know-Who's symbol," whispered Charlie. Percy rushed into the tent with a bloody nose.

"Percy!" said Charlie. "Okay, that's one down."

The second they all stepped inside the spacious tent, I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding. Everyone appeared to be fine. Harry, naturally, looked terrified, as did Ron and Hermione. Though Hermione's brow was furrowed as if she were trying to think. Think of what?

We listened as they recounted the events in the woods.

And even though I had no wish to, I learned what a Death Eater was and that it wasn't just us who were afraid of Voldemort returning. Good. They deserved to know what a little bit of fear felt like after everything they had put the world through years ago.

Before we all tried unsuccessfully to nap, Fred came and sat next to me on my bunk. "You okay?"

"Peachy."

Fred raised his eyebrows at me. "Now, Kal, having a bunch of Death Eaters on the loose is no excuse for attitude."

We stumbled back to the Burrow tired. I had not been looking forward to recounting what had happened to Mrs. Weasley, but she had already heard apparently, because she was waiting for us before we even reached the house. That was the power of a mother's love - she had been waiting since the night in her slippers in the front yard, for Merlin's sake! Poor Mrs. Weasley.

I bent over to read the title of the Daily Prophet she had dropped to embrace Mr. Weasley. "SCENES OF TERROR AT THE QUIDDITCH WORLD CUP." Fred and George knelt down next to me and looked at each other in horror at the detailed (if not entirely true) description underneath it. It didn't last long.

Mrs. Weasley grabbed Fred and George and pulled them into her, crying. My heart went out to the women - her entire family had been at risk, and she had no way of knowing what had happened and no way to help.

"Ouch! Mum - you're strangling us -"

"I shouted at you before you left!" Mrs. Weasley said, starting to sob. "It's all I've been thinking about! What if You-Know-Who had got you, and the last thing I ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L.s? Oh Fred...George…"

One by one, she herded us into the house to examine the newspaper.

Soon after that, Mr. Weasley had to leave for work.

Sooner I was lying facedown on George's bed and attempting to block reality out of my head, even as I heard Fred and George quietly talking about something or other I was sure didn't concern me. Even if it did concern me, I didn't really care. What? I'd rather be lazy than a liar.

Anyway, it wasn't like wanting to talk was exactly rare at this point. After what had just happened, I'd want to talk to whoever I could if it brought me comfort. Knowing the twins, they were probably scheming… but it was best for me to stay out of it.

There would be no more drama for me until the next day, I promised. Please, for once in your bloody life, keep your crap together long enough to reach Hogwarts.

I could only hope there would be no crazed-killers or surprise relatives this year.

 **A/N:**

 **I AM SO SORRY IT'S TAKEN ME SO LONG TO UPDATE. But I blame you people. (Or at least, most of you. You regular reviewers are fracking fabulous!) The rest of you... it's hardly my fault I have no inspiration, since I've been getting NO... I repeat NO reviews from you. :( So disappointed in you all. (BESIDES THE REGULARS!3)**

 **Review or suffer another long wait! Stay awesome,**

 **Forever Maria**


	34. Chapter 32

The Hogwarts Express hadn't changed over the summer. Sure, maybe the cast had changed a bit; there were faces, the Seventh years, missing. And there were the new first years. But the Hogwarts Express never changed. And I liked it that way; something about the big, shiny train aging or being painted made me even sadder than the prospect that I was now a sixth year. Sixth year! That was almost a seventh year! And a seventh year was almost graduated!

And graduated meant no more Hogwarts.

I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," said Charlie with his signature grin as we said goodbye on the platform. This stopped us all short.

"Why?" said Fred.

"You'll see," said Charlie. "Just don't tell Percy I mentioned it...it's 'classified information, until such time as the Ministry sees fit to release it,' after all."

"Yeah, I sort of wish I were back at Hogwarts this year," said Bill wistfully.

"Why?" said George impatiently.

"You're going to have an interesting year," said Bill, his eyes twinkling. "I might even get time off to come and watch a bit of it."

"A bit of what?" said Ron.

"You'll see!" said Bill. I scowled.

"Oh, come on! You have to tell us!" I pleaded with Bill. He only shook his head at me with a big, knowing grin that drove me mad. He should not know more than I should about my own school!

Nobody told us a bloody thing.

By the time Fred, George, and I had found our compartment, Lee had already eaten more than half of the food supply on the train, Alicia, Katie, and Angelina had started the summer-gossip circle without me, and I was ecstatic nonetheless.

"The indignation!" exclaimed Fred. "Lee! You bought candy-"

"-without us?" finished George, a mock look of hurt on both their faces.

I shook my head and trooped over to sit next to the girls. Over the summer I had had enough of male presence. First the Weasley company exclusively, which meant young Ginny, motherly and on-edge Molly Weasley, and annoying Hermione was all I had as far as female company went. I was seriously starved. Not that I could complain - the Weasley's were the best. I just wished they had a girl my age. And nothing against Hermione - I just wished Harry would pick less of a know-it-all as a friend.

"Kal!" they all exclaimed in unison. We weren't a very huggy group, so I settled in between Katie and Alicia with just some high-fives and a half-hug from Katie.

"I heard you saw Ange at the Quidditch cup," Alicia said. "Lucky! I wanted to go, but mother said it was stupid to spend good money on something when I could just see in the newspapers who had won."

"Parents," sighed Katie. "Sometimes, Kal, I swear you're the lucky one."

A lot of time and about 300 Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans later, I could see Hogwarts up ahead. It was pouring rain, which just enhanced the gloomy beauty of the Victorian-Era castle. I whirled around to grab my luggage up off the ground, and when the train came to a halt, I was the first to jump out and yell a greeting at Hagrid.

Fred climbed into the Thelestral-pulled carriage right behind me, then came the rest of the gang. We were lucky to all fit, actually. Being older students, and seven of us in a seat-six carriage, I was practically in Fred's lap the entire time. Not that I minded.

Don't even go there, brain.

We talked about whatever we could grasp onto for the ride to the castle. Mostly about the poor first years out in this, most likely afraid of drowning. I remembered wanting to swim in the Black Lake the first day. It had been Katie who had saved me from impulsively sticking my arm in the water to test the temperature that day. It was also the first time we had ever met.

Meeting a close friend, my near-mauling… good times.

We reached Hogwarts all excitable and slightly wet from the rain we were soaked with on our brief time out of the carriages. We all settled down at the Gryffindor table. It felt so good to be back. Like realizing you still had a place in the world even when you were sure just moments ago that you didn't, that was what it felt like to me.

"Hello," greeted a few of the regular faces at the table. It was still startling that I, Kalmine Potter, was old enough to be considered a regular face, much less be looked up to by the younger students. I looked over eagerly at the Hat, hungry and anticipating the Sorting. I loved the Sorting.

 _A thousand years or more ago,_

 _When I was newly sewn,There lived four wizards of renown,_

 _Whose names are still well known:_

 _Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

 _Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

 _Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley broad,_

 _Shrewd Slytherin, from fin._

 _They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

 _They hatched a daring plan_

 _To educate young sorcerers_

 _Thus Hogwarts School began._

 _Now each of these four founders_

 _Formed their own house, for each_

 _Did value different virtues_

 _In the ones they had to teach._

 _By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

 _Prized far beyond the rest;_

 _For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

 _Would always be the best;_

 _For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

 _Most worthy of admission;_

 _And power-hungry Slytherin_

 _Loved those of great ambition._

 _While still alive they did divide_

 _Their favorites from the throng,_

 _Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

 _When they were dead and gone?_

 _Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

 _He whipped me off his head_

 _The founders put some brains in me_

 _So I could choose instead!_

 _Now slip me snug about your ears,_

 _I've never yet been wrong,_

 _I'll have a look inside your mind_

 _And tell where you belong!_

We all clapped politely, as always, but the real show was the food and we all knew that. After all, there were plenty of things better to do than marvel at an old, singing piece of burlap.

My mouth flew open, as if I were going to scream in elation. Dumbledore had just dropped a bomb. Mad Eye Moody… THE Mad Eye Moody… was going to be teaching US Defense Against the Dark Arts.

"Holy Hippogriff!" I squealed.

"He looks like he's on drugs," observed Lee. "That is NOT what a person is supposed to look like."

"Neither is your face, yet here you are!" said Alicia.

Fred and George were quick to shush us. Dumbledore was still trying to get our attention. What could possibly be more important that Moody-inspection?

"As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

There was a plausible pause. I didn't understand what he meant - obviously, this was the big surprise… but it didn't seem so great yet.

"You're _JOKING_!" cried Fred in excitement.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar."

Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.

"Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death WHAT?" hissed Alicia, looking worriedly around at the eager faces. "What?!" Nobody was paying her any attention, however: I was busy listening with awe in my face and my heart.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred hissed to us all. "Can you imagine winning?"

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -" Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen."

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"

The twins were not happy about the whole "17" rule at all. They were still ranting about it as we parted ways on the staircase. I laughed and trudged up heavy-footed into our dormitory (our meaning myself, Ange, Alicia, and Katie). I stepped inside the room… and immediately wanted to run back out and ask somebody what a dog was doing on my bed.

There was a "border collie" on my bed, just sitting there intelligently. I had never really had much interaction with dogs, so I was very antsy. Of course, I knew Sirius was a dog, but this was no human dog - it was just plain dog. Something about it's deep eyes made me think it - she - was smarter than she let on.

(Dog: Harry%20Cara_ )

"Read the note out loud, Alicia," I demanded, nudging the parchment that had fallen off the dog's tag with my foot. Alicia obliged and picked it up. She cleared her throat, eyes scanning the pages already.

 _"Dear Kalmine,_

 _It has come to my attention that you - and your brother - have been in a lot of danger on multiple occasions on school grounds. Your brother has several closely devoted friends who know the true depth of his situation and who have proved themselves more than enough in the ways of protection. I wish I could say the same for you. While I have no doubt in your loyalties, I cannot safely say that I think your chosen crowd would be of any protection to you if something were to go seriously awry, especially now, when it is so crucial to remain safe for the Tournament."_

"That's all a load of crap!" I said. "Fred rescued me from that Nilixa only last year!"

"Shh!" scolded Alicia.

 _"I know a dog is not the most practical guardian, but I thought it would be both an appropriate way to keep you safe, and good for my own peace of mind that you keep this dog near. You may just find that she's of more use to you than you think._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Albus Dumbledore"_

It took a moment for that to sink in. Then I looked down at the Border Collie that was still posed, almost dramatically, on my bed, watching my face. I jumped to my feet.

"This is fantastic! I have a pet! I'll be the only witch at Hogwarts with a dog!"

"Snape'll blow a gasket!" squealed Angelina.

"What's her name?" demanded Katie, looking over the collar for anything besides a leather loop. There was nothing. "I think it's for you to decide, Kal."

"Damn! You're so lucky!"

"She's black, something dark," said Angelina.

The suggestions rolled at us.

"Cutie Pie!"

"Cavity!"

"Dark Angel!"

"You-Know-Who!"

"Nilixa Lestrange's Hair!"

"Fred Weasley's soul!"

"Please Angelina, Fred's a ginger, he doesn't _have_ a soul."

"Lee Jordan's soul, then!"

"Katie! You're just saying that because he's black!"

"Not everything is about skin color, Ange!"

"Except for when it is-"

I rolled my eyes the ridiculous three-way conversation taking place in front of me. I stooped to look into the dog's eyes, ignoring the other suggestions. It hit her like a ton of bricks falling from a Hippogryph.

"Nox," she said out loud. "Her name is Nox. Like the light-cancelling spell?"

"Because she's black, very clever! No - NOT the skin color, Merlin Angelina," said Katie.

"Nox it is!" I said. My head hit the pillow and I was asleep. I couldn't help but feel like Nox was watching over me somehow… and not just because she was a dog, but something further than that. I could swear as I fell asleep that the dog felt more human than most of my professors.

 **A/N: IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS**

 **Heyo guys! This is me with the REALLY TERRIBLE I'M SO SORRY back to Hogwarts chapter! You people have no idea how much I take every comment to heart… I had to re-work so much of the story to fit what some comments said. My original story idea had Kal and Fred getting together in the CUTEST way ever in their LAST year… but there is no way I'm keeping it for another year… almost TWO if you count the part of their 7th that the event does not happen!**

 **Also, it has come to my attention that she might come off as a REALLY CHICHE Mary-Sue because I gave her a lovely pet, and yes, this pet will turn out to be a very unrealistically awesome pet. BUT... I swear, there is a signifigance. I didn't just throw it in so she could have a pet - it's actually a HUGE part of the plot. Curious? Stick around, then. ;)**

 **So this is going to be a short-ish year. But there is a fabulous plot if you stick around, I swear. Do you think it's odd what Dumbledore thinks? What do you people think about Nox? Your predictions are epic. Sometimes I see a prediction and just think: "Wow! This is better than MY story…"**

 **Stay awesome,**

 _ **Forever Maria**_


	35. Chapter 33

I was very close to strangling Fred, George, and Lee. They had spent the entire breakfast period discussing ways to get their names into the Goblet of Fire. We were all at our wits end.

"Would you bloody shut up?" I asked not-so-politely. "You guys aren't going to be able to get past something Dumbledore conjured!"

The boys turned to scowl at me. Lee said, "Is that some kind of insult, Potter?"

"Yes, it is," I said.

"You want to go?" he said, striking a fake fighting pose. "Any one of us can take you!"

Fred cocked his head at Lee, "I don't know… she has a guard dog now, and it's pretty big!"

"Don't remind me," Lee groaned, putting his head on the table. He was insanely jealous of my new pet - apparently, he had always wanted a dog. I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, blokes. Give it a rest." Katie said from next to me.

"On the bright side, we have DADA first!" George said, holding up his schedule. Fred grabbed it from him, scanning it hungrily with his eyes.

"You're right!" he cried.

"What's so great about DADA?" demanded Angelina. "We have it every year! I prefer Charms."

"Are you kidding me? Mad Eye Moody is wicked cool!" Fred said indignantly.

"This is probably the only time I've ever had the occasion to say this, but come on guys… we don't want to be late to class," I said. Usually, the twins and Lee took every opportunity to NOT go to class they could.

Moody had us the second he informed us we wouldn't be needing our books.

I mean, a class where we wouldn't be needing our books was always welcome. Especially Defense, when there were more interesting things to be doing. Moody was sort of creepy however. If his eye could really see through things like the rumours said, did it mean he could see through our clothing?

It would be just perfect for our Defense teacher to be a bloody pervert, wouldn't it? It would still be better than Lockhart though.

"Right!" Moody said, clapping his hands loudly together. "This class is old enough to have covered most of the creatures, eh?" We nodded. "Good, because we're NOT doing that today. Someone, tell me, what have you learned about curses?"

Alicia's hand tentatively raised into the air, "Eh… we haven't really learned anything about curses… besides counter-curses, of course."

Moody shook his head. "That won't do. You need to know what's it's like our there, in the real world! Take it from me, you'll need to know more about how to fend off dark hexes than how to deal with hinkypunks!"

I risked a glance at the twins, and saw them staring at Moody with something like adoration in their wide blue eyes. It was a twisted kind of adorable. Like seeing evil little children excited!

"Now, you're sixth years! Which is the Ministry's legal age to learn about curses! I say that's all bogey - an opponent won't wait and explain what a curse is, so you should be ready to face them the second you walk through these doors as a first year! So, today we'll begin our unit on curses." He paused for dramatic effect. "What can you lot tell me about the unforgivable curses?"

Nobody raised their hands except for Fred and George, who were fighting to get their hands higher. Moody pointed at George, making Fred slump in his seat.

"The Imperius Curse, sir!" said George boastfully.

"Yes. The Imperius curse is very dangerous, indeed - if cast correctly, it could give you complete control over a living thing. There are ways to fight it, of course… but I'd wager this spider isn' properly taught how to do that." He pulled a spider out of a jar containing about six spiders inside out onto his desk.

He aimed his wand at it, and muttered, "Imperio!"

The spider started jumping madly around the room. Alicia fell backwards in her chair, shrieking, as it scuttled onto her desk in jerky movements. The class burst out laughing, besides Alicia, who looked like she might burst into tears.

"Fighting this curse takes a lot of strength of character, and willpower! Not all of you will be able to, I'm telling you now. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Alicia embarrassedly looked at her feet. She was still fazed by the spider. "There's also Crucio."

"DON'T SAY IT OUT LOUD, GIRL!" Moody hollered. "You never know how magic will react! Never! Here's a lesson to all of you; never even say these curses out loud unless you really need to use them. The use of these on a human being will get you a ticket to Azkaban faster than you can say 'oops', even if it's accidental."

Alicia really looked close to tears now. I found myself wanting to go hug her, or something.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "But… sir, you won't use it on the spider?"

As if to answer her question, Moody recited the incantation. The spider began to twitch violently, his legs caving in. It was clearly in pain. My heart lurched into my throat. I suddenly didn't like Moody as much.

"Stop it!" I said angrily. "You're hurting it!"

Moody stopped, a terrifying grin on his face. "You. What's your name?"

I gulped. "Kalmine Potter."

He whistled under his breath. "Potter, eh? Should've known." I didn't like the way he was looking at me. He looked like he had hit the jackpot… but I didn't know with what. I wondered if I should have brought Nox, just in case. "Tell me, Potter. What's the last unforgivable?"

"I won't answer that if you're going to use it on that poor spider," I said stubbornly.

His face became even uglier as he growled at me. I gripped the side of my desk, scared, but unwilling to answer. "Did I ask you if you wanted to answer it?"

"No," I said softly, looking down, sideways, up, anywhere but him. A pang of sympathy ran through me for Alicia, who had been yelled at by this terrifying person only moments ago.

"Then you'll damn well answer it,"

"I… no. The spider did nothing to you, you could just tell us! We get the idea-"

"WHAT IS THE CURSE, POTTER? Don't test me!"

"The Killing Curse," I spat out, anger coursing through my blood, rising into my cheeks.

"Right," he purred. "Avada Kedavra!"

The spider jerked and fell, dead. The class gasped around me, some people horrified, some impressed, some excited that they had gotten to see the Killing Curse.

Me? I was utterly horrified. I looked at Alicia and Katie, seeing similar looks of alarm on their faces, and the ones of mixed emotion on the twins faces. George caught my eye and gave me a look of sympathy.

"You sick bastard," I whispered, just loud enough to be heard. My hand flew to cover my mouth. I hadn't meant to say that out loud. Unfortunately, Moody had heard.

"What did you just say?" He growled, stalking over to my desk.

"I… I didn't mean to…"

"OUT OF THIS CLASSROOM!" he hollered, pointing at the door.

I didn't have to be told twice. I grabbed my bag and sprinted out the door, feeling tears form, burning hot, in my eyes.

The sound of fast footsteps approaching jolted me straight into a sitting position. I hadn't been sure where to go. On one hand, I didn't want everyone to know I had been kicked out of DADA class, but on the other, I also didn't want to spend an entire period sitting pitifully on the ground in some abandoned corridor. I had chosen to compromise and go to the Gryffindor common room, where nobody would be with classes going on.

I sighed in relief as familiar red hair came into sight. It was only Fred, not a professor.

"Hi," I said quietly, staring at my feet. It was quite embarrassing, what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" he sat next to me.

I ignored his question, "What are you doing here? There's still class. Or did you get kicked out, too?"

Fred shook his head. "Nope. I got permission to book out early. All it took was a puking pastille and he sent me out to go to the 'Hospital wing'!"

"But you were really excited about Defense," I said, upset that I had probably ruined the first class of the year - one that Fred had been looking forward to, no less. I was a terrible friend.

"Nah, don't worry about it. There's always next class! And anyway, what are friends for?"

"You're the best," I laughed.

"I know!" he said, shooting me his trademark cheeky smile. Inside, I could feel myself blushing.

"Did you really puke in the middle of Defense class?" I stifled laughter behind my hand.

Fred chuckled. "You bet I did! I wish you could have seen Mad Eye's face!"

"I don't like him," I said stubbornly.

"You've made that clear."

"Who kills spiders in class? He could have just told us about the last curse. It's so… so sadistic!"

"Yeah, but he really does know what he's doing." Fred said, obviously still enraptured with Moody.

"And that's why I have such a bad feeling about him," I whispered. "Whenever our Defense Against Dark Arts professors know what they're doing, it always ends badly."

Fred was silent for a moment, and I knew he was thinking about Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, both innocent men, almost being sentenced to the Dementor's kiss, and Quirrell (who had been a surprisingly good teacher) harboring Voldemort in his turban.

"Let's do something," he said finally, eyes lighting up. "We have almost an hour!"

With that, we got to our feet, linked arms, and walked out of the common room. I wondered how I had gotten so lucky to have a friend like Fred Weasley, and if it was normal that my heart was beating twice it's normal speed whenever my hand brushed his by accident.

"Woah!" Fred exclaimed.

He wasn't the only one who was impressed by Nox's intelligence. We had been trying to teach her tricks, and she was an insanely comprehensive learner. It couldn't be normal for a dog to look at us with such intelligence, like she understood us!

"This dog is the best thing ever," declared Fred. "I might have to steal her."

The dog, loyal as ever, got up and pranced over to my side. She looked almost SMUG. "Dream on, ginger," I imagined her saying.

"I would have chosen a more interesting name. Like Tiberius!" he said.

Nox yipped, obviously horrified. I was alarmed as well.

"You will not call this poor dog Tiberius! It's not even a bloke, anyway!"

"It's a fantastic name!" Fred argued.

"How about NO?" I said. "How about NEVER?"

Fred scoffed, "I'm calling her Tiberius, dammit!"

"Don't you dare!" I said. Nox emitted a low growl from her throat. I had reached the conclusion that she was probably one of those slightly magical dogs, like the cats who were charmed to deliver mail.

"She'll learn to like it!"

"That's what she said," I giggled. Fred pouted.

And suddenly, like a golf ball being thrown at my head, I remembered that I needed to write Sirius. Immediately. My little brother had already sent him a letter.

I began rushing down to the owlery, Nox at my heels. "Where the hell are you off to?" Demanded Fred.

"To write Sirius!"

Nox stopped running besides me, instead dropping into a sitting position. She stared at me, dog-eyes wide. Was it possible that my dog knew about the escaped man from Azkaban? Was she scared of him?

"Don't worry, Nox," I whispered. "Sirius is innocent. He's my godfather. But you won't tell anyone, will you? He'll be arrested and given the Dementor's kiss if they find him. Snape just about lost it last year when he got away after he found me and my brother."

Fred groaned. "Please tell me you're not really explaining this to the dog. She can't understand you, ya know!"

I shook my head, not breaking eye contact with the stone-still canine in front of me. "You don't know that she can't, Fred. You don't know." Then, I spun on my heel and resumed running across the common room to write my godfather.

 **A/N:**

 **I know what you're thinking; HALLELUJAH! SHE ISN'T DEAD IN A DITCH! SHE UPDATED!**

 **Well, I'm always really busy. Plus, I had writer's block. As always, this story is taking me INSANELY off course of the plot I had planned out, although I like the way it's going. I'm going to try to get some more writing done today, so that I can update more this week.**

 **And also, I am SIRIUSLY (I HAD TO, SORRY) excited for the end of this year. There might be some surprises…. ;)**

 **REVIEW!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 ** _Killer Queen of Slytherin_ (like my new name?)**


	36. Chapter 34

It was a relief to hear from Sirius finally. I kept getting scared when he didn't write after a long period of time, scared that he was lying dead somewhere, or was back in Azkaban. I stole Angelina's Daily Prophet every morning to make sure no news concerning Sirius or Voldemort came up.

I had ended up not being able to write him the day before without an owl of my own. There had been professors in the owlery.

I had floated through most of my classes, glad I didn't have DADA today, although I would have to go again soon. Unless he wanted to kick me out for the entire year, which would be just typical. Not that Dumbledore would let him… would he?

I had arrived at the owlery, only to find a bird waiting for me already. A letter from Sirius (or "Snuffles" as the letter was signed) dropped from the leg before it flew off.

"Sirius!" I whispered, grabbing it. Nox looked up at me with big dog eyes in alarm. "You're probably right, I shouldn't keep saying his name out loud."

Lately, I had felt like I could read the mind of my dog by the looks she gave me. It was quite weird, especially when other people caught me talking to her. Many first years who didn't know me thought I was clinically insane by now.

Dear Kal,

I heard about the Triwizard tournament at Hogwarts, and wish I could be there. However, the point of this letter is not to get excited about Hogwarts kicking the ass of every other magical school. Rather, it's about Harry.

I received two letters from him, one telling me about his scar hurting and the second one trying to pass it off as a mistake. I need to know what's going on over there - your brother won't tell me. Contact me in the fireplace tonight, but make sure nobody sees you. We need to talk.

Sirius

"Damn it, Snuffles!" I cursed. How was I supposed to float this one on the day that the other schools would arrive? The common room would be packed until midnight, maybe even past that!

I didn't let myself think about it. I might ask the twins for their help, since they were the only ones who knew about Sirius Black being my godfather. Obviously I couldn't ask Harry to be a lookout while we were talking about Harry.

I walked out of the owlery as soon as I heard voices. The other schools would be arriving soon. Sirius's bad timing didn't have to ruin this whole thing for me! 

I joined my friends outside. Angelina and Alicia were chatting it up rapid fire, pointing to unknown things in the distance. Katie and Lee were playing a hand-tap game that muggle girls liked to play, trying to see who could clap the fastest. I wandered over to Fred and George. I figured it would be a good time to tell them about Sirius's letter.

"Are you sodding joking?" George demanded with a frown. "You can't talk to him in plain sight, right in the middle of the common room!"

"I know, but if I don't, he'll get worried that I didn't do what he said. He'll think something happened, and he'll rush right over here like an idiot without thinking twice."

"Maybe he wouldn't…" said Fred hesitantly.

I raised my eyebrows, "Please, I know my godfather. That's absolutely what he would do! In a crisis, he isn't very good about thinking about his own well-being, and that was the reason he was put in Azkaban in the first place! Too bloody impulsive, like Harry."

Fred looked at Nox thoughtfully. "Didn't you say he could turn into a dog…?"

"No! Get that thought out of your brain! And whatever you do, DON'T bring that thought up!" I said.

"Why?"

"Are you kidding me?" I scoffed. "Did you not hear me describe him? If he thinks there's a chance he could hang out at Hogwarts with us, he'll take it! And I can't exactly stop him if you idiots put the idea in his head!"

"You know, it sounds more like you're his guardian, and not the other way around, Kal. " Commented Fred. I didn't want to think about how true that was sometimes for both me and Harry.

Suddenly, there was a scream from the crowd. Something was coming! Just as I thought that, there was a crash and a bang, and a big blue carriage burst through the trees and into my field of vision.

It looked like this was going to be a very interesting year. Kids around me were shouting in delight and horror, and excitement - a lot of excitement was in the air as the different schools finally got themselves rounded up and ready to present themselves officially. We were herded back inside the Great Hall to watch the show.

Many of the French girls probably had veela blood in them. Some were trying to tone it down, but most of them were strutting around like they already owned Hogwarts, causing every boy that was caught in their wake to swoon. I kept giving Fred dirty looks as he eyed one girl that was in the very font as they danced their way through the doors and to the tables to sit.

However, it was his turn to give me dirty looks when the Durmstrang boys came out with their staffs. Merlin, they were BUILT! Their cloaks clung to their toned muscled bodies deliciously… every girl in the room nearly fainted, even the Veela!

"Staring is bad manners," hissed Fred, nudging me in the ribs to snap me out of my funk.

"To who?" I said. "Come on, Angelina, back me up on this. They're gorgeous!"

"They are. I'd trade any of the Hogwarts boys for one of those specimens…" she sighed, wistfully.

Lee gave her a look. "Even us?" He gestured at himself and the twins.

"Yes," we both sighed in unison. Of course, we were joking, but the boys still looked pissed off.

"Stupid Bulgarian meatheads," said Fred and George at the same time.

Then, Katie gasped. "My God!" She slapped my arm, and the arms of everyone around her, even a few people we didn't know. "OH MY GOD!"

"Katie, calm dow-" I began. I stopped as I saw what she had gone slack-jawed at. "Ho-ly shite."

"What're you looking at?" demanded George.

Katie shook her head, her eyes as wide as mine were. Gigantic, and not leaving the person that was at the front of the room.

"It's Viktor-blood-Krum!"

A/N:

GUYS, GUYS, I AM SO SORRY. I swear, this wasn't my fault that it took forever to update. The thing is, I don't have the Harry Potter books. I borrowed them from my friend while I was reading them, and I was reading online up until this chapter. The thing is, my online sources have been withdrawn due to copyright laws, so I was left with nothing to base this off of.

I guess I decided it couldn't go on. So what this means is that I might be very inacurate from this point on. If any of you have an online way to read it, send me the link, please! Anyway, hope you liked it! LEAVE A BLOODY REVIEW. And I love the Bulgarians - they remind me of my own Bulgarian family, minus the accents.

Stay awesome,

Forever Maria


	37. Chapter 35

We were all seated in the Great Hall, boys and girls respectively ogling the new schools. Some were subtle, and some were not so subtle. I almost felt bad for the first years for having to endure this in their first year at Hogwarts.

"I'm going to wave. Tell me if he looks at me, okay?!" said Katie with her eyes on one of the delicious Bulgarian boys. She whipped around in her seat and waved very _gracefully_ at one of them, then whipped back around with wide eyes.

"He's looking at you!" I confirmed excitedly. "He looks like he wants to wave back... I think he's getting more food... HOLY MOTHER OF MERLIN HE'S GETTING UP!"

"Quiet!" hissed Katie. "You're going to blow it! You look too excited, cool it!"

"Okay, okay." I said, bowing my head and beginning to eat. At first I tried to take small dainty bites like Angelina and Katie, but it didn't work very well, so I sufficed for eating like I normally did.

Fred and George were both sulking. That was unfair, though; they had both been ogling the French girls, too!

"I don't know why you're bothering," said Angelina. "They'll all be snapped up by the French girls anyway. They're beautiful. They might be Veela."

"Not to worry! I heard that if you pluck a hair from a Veela's head, they die!" I said brightly. "The real question is... how fast can you pluck, Katie?"

Katie shook her head at me. She knew I was joking, of course, but I think it might she found me strange nontheless. Not that I could blame her, really. The accusing looks I was getting from the twins were already making me annoyed, though, so I might have been a bit out of it.

"She has a point, though. They'd never look at _you_ girls,"said Lee. I gaped at him. Why was he being so damn mean all of a sudden? That was not like him at all. (That's a lie. Lee is actually mean sometimes, but never to _us._ )

"Think again!" I said, pointing excitedly. "THE BOY YOU WAVED AT IS COMING THIS WAY! ALERT, ALERT!"

" _SHUT UP!"_ Shrieked Katie before she assumed a casual position.

I rolled my eyes. This was off to a great start, and it was only getting better.

* * *

"The moment has come," said Dumbledore, smiling around at the sea of upturned faces. "The Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation" - there was a smattering of polite applause - "and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."

"Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament," Dumbledore continued, "and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."

Filch, who had been lurking unnoticed in a far corner of the Hall, now approached Dumbledore carrying a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. It looked extremely old. A murmur of excited interest rose from the watching students; I stood up to see it clearly.

"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman," said Dumbledore as Filch placed the chest carefully on the table before him, "and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways.. their magical prowess - their daring - their powers of deduction - and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."

At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.

"As you know, three champions compete in the tournament," Dumbledore went on calmly, "one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire."

"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet," said Dumbledore. "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation," said Dumbledore, "I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line."

And then the hall exploded. "AN AGE LINE?" Shouted Fred indignantly.

"Bloody ridiculous!" stated Lee.

"But we'll be seventeen before the year is out!' said George. "That is ruddy rubbish!"

While the twins and Lee went off to plan ways to get their names in the Goblet, I looked around for my brother. He had a habit of getting himself into trouble, and the last thing I needed was for him to decide it was a good idea to try to enter himself.

"Harry," I said once I found him. "Not to seem untrusting or anything, but now would not be a good time for you to use the twins as your rolemodels."

"I never have," he said, amused. "Don't worry, Kal. I have no plans of entering myself in the Tournament. I'm looking forward to a year free of dangerous stunts!"

"Thank goodness for that."

* * *

The next few days were a blur of activity though I honestly don't remember a lot of it. Everyone was excited about the other schools being here - and on their _best_ behavior. It was essential that we all show off how great Hogwarts was in the presence of people who didn't know!

I had made it my mission to befriend at least one person from every new school. Already, it wasn't working out that well. The Beauxbatons girls hardly spoke English (making it kind of hard to have a friendly conversation with them). Plus they were snooty. The Durmstrang boys were also hard to start a conversation with because of their thick Bulgarian accents and their hostile personalities.

My first opportunity came when I accidentally took a Durstrang Boy's book. I had been sitting next to him in class earlier.

"Hey, wait!" came the thick European drawl from behind me. "You have my book!"

"Oh, sorry!" I said, my face burning red.

"It's not a problem," he replied, without smiling. He grabbed the book, but didn't leave just yet.

"Um..." I said intelligently.

With that, he turned to leave.

"Do you want to sit with us at dinner?"

He turned back around, a look on his face that suggested it was the last thing he wanted to do. I felt a bit insulted even if I had just met the guy and technically stolen his book. "Why do you assume that I want to sit with you?"

"Because you're at a new school and it would be a good experience for you to branch out?" I tried. He shook his head. "Okay, fine, because it would be super cool to sit with someone foreign. Happy?"

I thought that he was going to walk away for sure, but instead, he cracked a smile. "I will sit with you, then." He said. And off to the Great Hall we went.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 ***hides behind computer screen***

 ** _Kalmine: They're going to kill you, you know... slowly and painfully..._**

 ** _Fred: IT'S BEEN 2 MONTHS._**

 ** _Me: Shut up! The readers are going to find me!_**

 **Okay, but seriously, I am SORRY. Thanks for all your links telling me where I could read the Harry Potter books online! It was a lifesaver. So, the plot is going to slowly progress from here on out and I hope that I can get back to updating a bit more frequently. Sorry for taking so long, seriously I am. And thank you to all who have favorites and stuff... on Quotev I have almost _200_ clucking hearts! You're the best, guys. **

**Remember to review!**

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Maria**


	38. Chapter 36

The Great Hall is often full, but I've never seen it as full as it is now, with every member of all three schools somehow all sitting down. My guess is that the benches have been magically elongated; otherwise, this many people would never fit on them.

We're waiting for the champions to be chosen, much to my excitement. I was obviously not old enough to enter, but I was still psyched for these challenged to get started! Normally, I would be talking to the twins, but right now, we're not talking to each other. In fact, none of the girls in our friend group are talking to the boys because of what went down yesterday at dinner.

Ivan came to sit with us and Angelina, Katie, Alicia and I welcomed him with open arms... for obvious reasons. The twins and Lee didn't like him nearly as much. Lee as good as told him to leave (" _You would be smart to make like a tree and leaf,_ "), George had interrogated him (" _I heard there's lots of crime in Bulgaria. Are you a criminal? What prison did you go to? I KNOW YOUR SECRETS."),_ and Fred literally didn't talk the entire meal, choosing to just glare at the poor bloke. Regardless, Ivan was interesting, and we invited him to eat with us whenever he liked - although because of the boys that was probably not going to happen.

Some part of me knew they acted this way because they all liked one of us. Lee fancied Angelina, George fancied Alicia, and Fred… Well, the events of last year proved that Fred fancied _me._ They were all too full of themselves to actually stop acting stupid and just tell us, though, so we had the right to outrageously flirt speak with any Bulgarian boy we wanted to.

Angelina nudged me. "There it is! The Goblet of Fire!"

Indeed, Dumbledore was walking up to the front to the Goblet.

"What if someone we know is picked?" Alicia asked.

"Then we cheer for them like there's no tomorrow," I replied. "Personally, I'm hoping it's Angelina."

Alicia still looked unconvinced, "But people have _died."_

"Not in a few centuries," said George with a grin.

"Shut up, the names are being selected!" hissed Ginny from farther down the table. George stuck his tongue out at her.

"Don't do that to your sister!" Alicia lectured in a whisper.

"Sisters suck," he declared.

"I've always wanted one," I announced honestly. "Figures that I wind up with a brother."

Lee rolled his eyes at us in annoyance. "Force Harry to be a drag queen. Now will you _be quiet?_ "

Alicia and I huffed, then directed our attention to where Dumbledore was already opening the first paper.

"The Durmstrang champion is… _Viktor Krum!"_

Very loud cheer, and not just from Durmstrang. The Hogwarts girls (and Ron) were all clapping enthusiastically as well. Like I didn't see that one coming.

A second parchment flew out of the Goblet. "The Beauxbaton champion is… _Fleur Delacour!"_

A stunning blonde girl made her way to the front. Now it was the boys who applauded furiously while the girls scowled. How was hair that shiny even _possible_?!

"And the Hogwarts champion is…" I held my breath and grabbed Angelina's arm, " _Cedric Diggory!"_

The Hufflepuffian-eye-candy stood up with a happy smile on his face. I remembered how kind he was at the Quidditch world cup, and knew that even though it wasn't Angelina who would represent our school, he would do a good job. Not that his magnificent face had anything to do with that. At all.

"That-" began Dumbledore, only to be cut off by another parchment. My eyes widened in shock, as did his, and everyone else's. Someone from the Slytherin table yelped. The headmaster just stared down at the paper with eyes full of dread. My stomach sunk. Only one person could make Dumbledore look that confused…

"Harry Potter."

The room erupted into chaos.

~•~•~•~

While everyone in the Gryffindor common room was celebrating my brother being chosen to represent our school, I was sulking on the couch, waiting for everyone to leave him alone so that I could finally talk to him. The twins were acting normal again, and were therefore speaking to me once more.

"Don't worry, Harry's been in plenty worse situations than a tournament!" said George.

"Yeah, we just wish he told us how he got his name into the Goblet of Fire!" said Fred.

I made a face at the both of them. "He would have told me. I don't think he's lying, I think someone else really _did_ do it."

George shook his head. "That doesn't add up. Why would someone willingly go to the trouble just to enter your brother in some contest?"

The truth was, I had no idea. But I knew my brother. And Harry wouldn't have done that - he hated unnecessary danger. Harry always had enough of that in his life. Plus, he had no poker face and right now his face was confused.

"Harry, did you do it?" I demanded once he finally was free. His stare was my answer; my poor younger brother looked bewildered.

"No, but Ron doesn't believe me. He won't even talk to me!"

"That's not the biggest issue right now. Our issue is that someone had a reason for illegally entering you in a potentially dangerous tournament!"

His killing-curse green eyes widened with the possibility, as if it had never occurred to him. "You think this is someone who wants me to get hurt?"

"It might be," I told him. "Just… Be careful."

"I will be," he assured me.

That hardly made me feel better, though. Until Lee started talking about this one time he was watching a muggle show where it was the same thing, but non-magical, and I forgot all about it for the time being.

~•~•~•~

The next few days were bad for me, so they must have been worse for my brother. It started nicely, with the Gryffindors all pleased that one of their own was competing, but then the Slytherins started wearing "Potter Stinks" badges, and it was easy to get a lot of the Hufflepuff's to do it as well. They were loyal as Gryffindor's, and Harry stole Cedric's thunder. As much as I tried to convince people that Harry hadn't wanted his name in the Goblet, nobody believed me.

There was good to it, though. Cedic apologized many times for his housemates bullying Harry, and he was trying to get them to stop it. And Ivan was sort of great with dealing with annoyed people like myself, probably because he was so naturally collected and level-headed.

The evening before the first task, he tried to distract me by making me explain the house system to him. After telling him how they were started and what each house represented, I was now trying to guess which house he would be sorted into.

"You're definitely not a Hufflepuff… what type of grades do you get?"

"4 and 5's, mostly," he replied.

"Which means?"

"Very good."

"So you might be a Ravenclaw… I could see you in Slytherin, if I didn't hate everything stood for…"

"I think Slytherin is a cool house. The values are very useful, just the members of the house have become too rich for their own good." One thing about Ivan was that he actually got along with Slytherin's more than Gryffindor's. That got under my skin. But I supposed his arguments made sense; Slytherin wasn't a bad house, just a lot of the people in it were.

"So maybe Slytherin. I would guess Gryffindor, though." I said, meaning every word. Ivan was brave. He was quiet, which wasn't typical of Gryffindor's, but he was also chivalrous. _Insanely_ chivalrous, more than any boy I had ever met. Enough that it might even border sexism at times, like when he carried my books for me because it wasn't "woman's work" to carry heavy things. I liked it, sexist or not. Books are heavy! If someone else wants to carry them, I'll be damned if I stop them.

"I'm probably too lazy to be in Ravenclaw or Slytherin," stated Ivan.

"Are you calling Gryffindor's lazy?" I laughed.

"If the foot fits."

I chuckled. "It's ' _If the_ _ **shoe**_ _fits.'_ "

He was always getting English sayings mixed up like that. At first it was annoying, but now I've grown to like it.

As we launch into a discussion about stupid English sayings, I think that I've made a Bulgarian friend for sure. Now all I need to do to complete my goal of having at least one friend from each school is befriend a French girl! Something tells me it will be a difficult task.

(Difficult enough that I doubt the First Task tomorrow can possible be any harder.)

 **A/N:**

 **What do I even say? I've been gone for close to a year, 8 months. No, I wasn't taking a break from writing, I was taking a break from this** _ **story.**_ **I actually really hate this story. It was started ages ago, the protagonist is a Mary-Sue, and the writing is loads worse than what I do now. But hey, a lot of you seem to like it for questionable reasons, so I won't stop until it's finished!**

 **Let me know if anyone is still reading this. The writing style might seem different - it has evolved a lot. I was trying to keep it simple, though. REVIEWS GIVE ME LIFE. *wink wink nudge nudge***

 **Stay awesome,**

 **Killer Queen of Slytherin**


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